I Am Life : Collected Poems

By Vonice (Nissi) Berry

A weaver of intricate words, Nissi bares her soul with raw emotion as she knits her childhood pain and pearls her womanhood resolutions into a uniquely crafted acceptance of self. "I Am Life" is her mantra of truth and inspiration. Take a journey into the poetic mind of one woman's life-changing story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257434510

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Author

Preface

Whoever lives is LIFE. This statement in itself may seem confusing to the defunct mind yet, when we enter into the acceptance of diversified thought, which gives breath to expansion, we are bound to search amid much confusion to discover greater knowledge and yes, truth. Oh, what a profound word truth is. I have often found myself asking, What is truth? For want of better words, "What is my truth?" since one person’s verity may tend to differ from another, which is also dependent upon each particular stage of becoming. Within such, one is not always prepared for what is ready to be revealed. Still, we get it (prepared or no). Eventually, confusion succumbs to truth, which is LIFE.

Many are convinced life begins at birth; this is a truth. Being born from the womb can be, perhaps, one of the many instances of physical birth. We break through kicking and screaming; squinting to see this strange, new light; inhaling to breathe the air; to hear the sounds and prepare ourselves for a new kind of growth. There are many sequences to the process of such a vague introduction or ‘birth’ as most of us know it.

The birth of whom? The birth of what? I pose these questions, because I think maybe we have all asked them on countless occasions (I know I have). We have self-styled and rearranged the order of wording, quite frequently to stretch or shrink them to fit our levels of understanding. The birth of YOU.

Indeed, we celebrate these the entire time. It is the typical (birth)day. We are constantly being born or ‘reborn’ physically, mentally, spiritually and more. We are constantly being brought into greater awareness and into the knowledge of that which surrounds us. The world, or universe, is vaster than we ever imagined and with all of these, come greater awareness of self. Such allows the connection to everything to take place. Still, sometimes we wonder if it is new, or if the adaptation of our own understanding of it makes it new to us. It has been here all along. We knew it, but did not know and now, we know.

What is it? IT is everything! It is LIFE and birth; it is death and the waning away of old to make room for new. The exfoliation of old layers as dead skin exposes suppleness (getting tender). It is past, present and future. The acknowledgment of previous thought is the conjuring of memory and our response to what has always been. It is the birthing of LOVE.

Now, making its grand entrance is the ability to get brutally honest with self, or ‘real’ (to coin the term often used these days). Being real requires a divergent courage. This is a bravery not known before, or was it? Understanding arrives through trial and error, also by which, strength is gained (not lessening the aforementioned) through the acceptance of knowledge and truth. Here, we are discovering each and every possibility that was already present the entire time. We become a newer, updated, well-rounded version of the erstwhile self we had formerly known and still, the one and same self we have been all along. We recognize ourselves worthy of honesty. This is what enables us brave enough to face each new relevance of SELF we encounter throughout our journey(s). These, I consider birth(s).

Each Genesis brings about Revelation. The beginning is the end and vice-verse; there is and is not either. There is just constant. It