Fighting Through My Writing

By Ronald Manning

Fighting through My Writing is a bevy of poems, haikus, and short stories used to convey the emotions that Ronald is feeling at the time. Ronald, an amateur boxer, uses boxing and writing as a way to combat his daily struggles to manage anxiety and depression. Each literary synopsis represents a sensitive topic that Manning wishes transmit to the reader. Manning will touch upon an array of issues regarding love, depression, family illnesses, African American empowerment, and fighting between his existential being, his emotional idiom, and his inner negativity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524501600

Ronald Manning

Ronald Manning is a young African American poet hailing from the South Bronx, New York. Though he was raised in a single-parent home, his mother, Heather Manning, worked hard to provide for them both. Ronald was told by his high school guidance counselor that he should not apply to top-tier universities because he would not be accepted due to his ethnic background. Using his guidance counselor’s ill words as motivation, Ronald decided that his destiny would not be measured by someone else’s standards. Ronald worked diligently studying day and night. As a result, he was able to maintain a spot on the honor roll. Ronald received a partial college scholarship to St. John’s University. His father, Ronald Davis, paid for the remaining college education on the premise that he kept a B average, to which Ronald capitulated to. Throughout college, Ronald became a resident assistant to assume student leadership among his contemporaries. He spearheaded numerous events in hopes of getting his counterparts to understand the importance of giving back to the community. Ronald eventually graduated from St. John’s University with a degree in communications and a minor in business administration. Upon graduation, Ronald eventually found his way to New York City Housing Authority, in which he helped cultivate the community through community service. Notable writers that influenced him were Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, Tupac Shakur, and Langston Hughes. Ronald is currently looking to take the poetry world by storm in efforts to be one of the greatest writers of all time.

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Copyright © 2016 by Ronald Manning.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2016908099

ISBN:       Hardcover       978-1-5245-0162-4

       Softcover       978-1-5245-0161-7

       eBook       978-1-5245-0160-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 05/17/2016

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Contents

A Few Requests

A Wise Tale

All Purchases Are Fake

Armed Black Man Freed

Christmas love

Desperate, Downtrodden and Depressed

Drowned In Love

Elevator Of Silence

Emotional Amusement Park

Flowers

Forgiveness

Formal Introduction

From Riches to Rags to Almost Rich to Rags

God’s Celebration

Heaven of Maturity

How Are You

I Uplift You

I want to be a good man so bad

I’m hard to love

It’s a rainy day it’s a gloomy day

It’s the little things that count

Last Rights

Let’s go for a walk

Lonely Valentine

Lord Help Us

Malicious Intentions

Mama Turtle

Misery Loves Company

My Little Prayer

My Little Son

My Mother’s Hair

My Wedding Day

Natural Beauty

Pour One For Me

Praying for My Mom

Rainbow In The Sky

Revenge Is Unnecessary

Santa’s List

Senseless worries

Shattered Glass of Mistakes

Spare Me The Advice

Speak to Yourself

Standing In Front Of Your Door Holding These Flowers

The Power of Endless Love

The Pupil Is Now The Teacher

Three Is A Crowd

To My Future Daughter

Waltz of Happiness

Water

We’ll cross that bridge when we get there

What a difference a year could make

Haikus

Punches and Poems

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Acknowledgments

A Few Requests

I can’t ask for materialism and I don’t want to ask for time;

The both times I demanded it I almost lost my mind;

I ask myself for peace and furthermore clarity;

It beats all the other superficial stuff that comes with vanity;

I want to stare in your eyes… Look at you romantically;

So if I actively look at you candidly would you run away from me frantically?

We all have our insecurities that derive once we lose our purities;

But certainly once you’re secure with me you can see that you shouldn’t have those worries;

But maybe it is I who is not worthy…

I rush through life like I’m in a hurry;

Busy trying to re-tell a scary story;

Trying to hit championship shots like Robert Horry;

Walking down dangerous charted paths when my eyes get blurry;

But the bible says Walk by faith not by sight

That’s a hard quote to follow when you’re in the streets alone at midnight;

I remember all the costly decisions I made when the day was bright;

But we all have 20/20 hindsight;

Now the intelligence comes in when the minds tight;

People have abandoned me without even giving me a chance;

They say people come and go like seasons so I’m a colored leaf left on a branch;

Maybe I’m just the black sheep of the ranch;

Maybe they think my quicksand of thoughts will get them too knee deep to advance;

Maybe my reality is just me stuck in a trance;

Maybe I’m just an outsider, outside of the front line of;

Jagged shooting darts that’s all aimed for my heart;

I guess I’m supposed to be slain martyr of love just like Joan of Arc;

I guess I’ve been blinded from the start;

I want that unconditional love that’s state of the art;

A Wise Tale

An old man walked into the room at a snail’s pace with his cane and slowly sat down in front of a young boy. The boy sat there and they both leered into each other’s eyes. It was as if they had a stare down of epic proportions. The old man and the boy stood undaunted throughout the state down. As the young boy sat unblinking, the old man commenced to tell his story. "Young man, there will be an abundance of disappointments in your life. There will be people who you will give your 100% effort to make them happy and you will be lucky if you even get 1/3 back in return. People will walk in and out of your life like a revolving door. You will be the bud of ridicule, drama and false accusations. You must ignore all of the nonsense keep your head up and keep moving forward.

Almost all of your romantic relationships will be equivalent to running on a treadmill while eating cake. What I’m trying to say, son… is that It’s an exercise in futility. The one woman you find suitable for holy matrimony should be the woman that you should honor forever. The sweater of loyalty seems to be out of style nowadays so make sure you wear your sweater of loyalty with a classic vintage stole to keep her."

Even through all of what the old man was saying, the young boy did not blink once. Instead the whippersnapper kept staring back at the old man as he spoke. The elderly man continued; "You will make a lot of money in your life but do not be so enamored with money or worldly possessions that you forget about spending time with your family. Money cannot hold your hand on your deathbed and give you comfort of companionship while you are on the cusp of death. One must connect with the souls of your loved ones in order to connect with one’s self. One will live eternally through the blood of his descendants.

Live, laugh, love and furthermore do not be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are what we learn from in order for us to improve on our life. Most importantly, learn from other people’s mistakes. Any fool can learn from their mistake but it takes a wise person to learn from other’s miscalculations. Do not be ashamed of your mistakes but embrace it. You will soon learn that the mistakes that you thought were dire were really minor in many circumstances. Through the mistakes that were major… You will live through it.

The boy, who throughout this entire lecture remained unmoved and unbothered, still did not blink. The old man and the boy had one final stare off for three additional minutes. Finally, the old man decided to not say another word and stop speaking to the boy. He put down the picture of the boy… his former self from 64 years ago on the table and sat back in his chair and fell asleep.

All Purchases Are Fake

On pay day, as soon as I got my paycheck I would run to the clothing store. I had to make sure that I was up to date with the latest designer brands. I aimed for high end labels for brands that I had to Google just to find the right pronunciation. After all, I can’t iron a shirt with a logo in which i would wrinkle by stumbling over the accent of the word. I gallivanted through the aisles looking at each item on the counter, picking them up and setting them down in reckless abandon.I mean, it’s not like I cared who folded the garments, if I left them unfolded it was not my problem.

I would pick my size in the clothing that I desired and eagerly change into my new outfit in the dressing room. I find it amusing that clothing never fits anyone the way it fits the damn mannequin, yet equally debilitating to acknowledge that an inanimate object always looks great in clothing. I chalk it up to the fact that the statue doesn’t have working organs in its body to make the imperfections look obscure on the body. My good conscience always pleads with me to put down the clothing and walk away from the store to save my money. However, my