Outpourings

By Elias Lewis

I am black by design Proud of it by choice The workings of my mind Are echoed in my voice

A voice seeking to be heard Its message very clear With every spoken word I affirm that I am here

To shape my own destiny With fairness to every man In the pursuit of equality According to my maker's plan

Though many have tried Presenting many obstacles I will not be denied Fortitude fills my testicles

Every challenge I overcome Is a testament to my will To be the best I can become My full potential to fullfil

Though detractors there may be Wishing that I would fail I continue striding relentlessly This journey no man can curtail

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483693248

Elias Lewis

I was born in a coastal town named Mayaro, my early education was received at the Mayaro Government, St Therese Roman Catholic and Cunupia Government schools. I then proceeded to Presentation College Chaguanas. After graduating from the latter, I returned to Mayaro where I began working. I spent my entire working life in that area where I positively affected many lives and made many good friends.

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Contents

Acknowledgment

My Need

Flickering Light

Our Search

Dream On

Cross Currents

Spirit of the Drum

Bloodstained Streets

Crossing Over

Beyond Harm

Beauty Abounds

Fateful Morning

Higher Heights

Tempest

Alienation

A Special Gift

Our Time

. . . . Words

Breaking the Mold

Nurturing Dreams

Together in Song

Buds of Possibility

Tribute to a Titan

Mementos

Emancipation

Oh Trinidad !!

Touched

Simply Wishing

The Moving Finger

Bittersweet Dawn

Maturity’s Throne

Ill Winds

. . . . You

Game of Life

Living the Moment

. . . . Transient Friendship

. . . Spectre of Oppression

Our Journey

The Missing Voice

Being Me

In the Shadows

Happily Ever After

Up There

Singing with Libya

Nature’s Majesty

Stillborn Hope

Somalia

The Gifted Baton

Unanswered Questions

Season of Tumult

Little Flower

Soaring High and Free

Pathway to Destiny

Buoyant Spirit

Addiction

Scent of Despair

Paradox

Never

Stay

Bloody Legacy

Walking Away

Walls of Silence

Smouldering Embers

Changing our World

Mental Pictures

Mother

Freedom

Harsh Reality

Unrivalled Beauty

Sowing Seeds

Unseeing Eyes

Response Needed

Voice of the Wind

Kindred Spirits

Our Diamond

Beginnings

Mirrors of Truth

Awareness

Quest for Substance

Anniversary of Mayhem

Stand

Words of Hope

I Believe

Innermost feelings

To Love

Lost Innocence

On Giving

The Fire Within

Darkness

Sands of Time

The Light Goes Out

Hopeful… .

An End to Hostilities

Lifes Meaning

Oh Africa

Mother Nature

Finding Me

Furrowed Brow

Table of Brotherhood

Black by Design

Dedication

Dedicated to my dear departed mother, Roselin Lewis

who played a major role in shaping the person that I have become.

And to my departed father Sidney Mahabal who contributed, unknowingly.

Acknowledgment

I want to acknowledge my wife Jane and my son Jerren, my siblings, my many relatives and good friends who have made my journey as pleasurable as it has been thus far.

My Need

I am in need

Of something

To take me

From this place

Sing me a song

A melody so true

It urges my heart

To sing along

Write me a poem

Words blended

Oh so beautifully

My spirit to lift

Play me some music

An enchanting melody

So soothing to my senses

That I play along

In my subconsciousness

Take away the sadness

So increasingly a part

Of this surreal space

In which I now dwell

Let me live again

In the gay abandon

Which I used to know

In a distant time

A different place

Restore my faith

In who we can be

When our differences

Cease to divide us

Flickering Light

THOUGH darkness abounds

There is yet a light

Shining at the portal

Between here and forever

Diminished by time

Yet it still glows

In the minds of many

It cast a long shadow

On our troubled space

So rife with injustice

This light shone

As a beacon of right

Through unjust bondage

The spirit of struggle

Which it embodied

Led this light to the hilltop

Now it flickers

And the world looks on

Awe turned to sadness

As the struggle continues

To bid the light farewell

For it will be a dark day

When the light goes out

. . . hamba kakuhle Madiba

Our Search

LIKE blind men

We have searched

In the darkness

For elusive answers

To the questions

Which weigh heavy

On our inquiring minds

We have sought the seed

Of our genesis

Not just for ourselves

But so that our fruit

Would be aware

Of that original source

Our search brought us

To this special place

Where together we knock

On doors of understanding

Hoping to find within

Long sought answers

From our numbers

We draw strength

For our sojourn

To that enlightened space

Where clarity dwells

We must not be denied

As together we journey

To find our roots

Dream On

WITHOUT our dreams

Empty shells are we

Rudderless ships

Drifting on a current

Which takes us nowhere

Let the naysayers

Purvey their negativity

Mired in hopelessness

Never daring to dream

Hold fast to your dreams

Through thorny fields

Follow them tirelessly

Ford turbulent waters

Scale imposing peaks

Let your dreams drive you

To uncharted places

Until the nectar of success

Assails your taste buds

Then travails of the journey

Pale into insignificance

Dream of even greater things

Dream on ceaselessly

For dreams fuel achievement

. . . to my son JERREN

Cross Currents

SEATED on the bank of a river

Watching its muddy water flow

Powerful currents giving direction

Sweeping everything before it

Observing in