The Essence of a Poet

By Jean R. Watson

The Essence of a Poet is a unique book of inspirational poems and writings comprised of various topics such as politics, spirituality, nature, family, and much more. This book will provide insight into how the author views the world from a personal perspective. The books of poems and writings emanate from the author’s heart and soul, who shares her feelings of hope, joy, sadness, and love for God. The Essence of a Poet is the book readers can reach for when they need spirituality, laughter, and hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665530514

Jean R. Watson

Jean Richardson Watson is from Clayton, North Carolina, and currently resides in Raleigh, NC. The author is married with two children and one grandson. When she isn’t writing, Jean enjoys traveling with family and friends, sketching, entertaining guests at her home, dancing, and spending quality time with her family. Watson developed a passion for writing during her adolescent years. Jean’s manuscripts flourished from simple love poems to words of inspiration, and she uses every opportunity to share her talent with her readers. She is a published author of several books, Poetry from the Heart, Onyx the Butterfly, Poetic Expressions, A Thief in the Night, Inspirational Quotes for Life, My Name is Special, and her most recent released book, The Eliminator VS Covid-19. The author is currently working on other projects that will intrigue her readers.

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© 2021 Jean R. Watson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Edited by: Malory of The Missing Ink LLC

Published by AuthorHouse  09/28/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-3047-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-3051-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021912944

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Special Dedications

Why Complain

The Gift of Giving

What Does the Dream Mean to Me?

Tribute to Grandfather Rob Richardson

Empowerment

On My Way Home

A Breath of Fresh Air

Talk to Jesus

Take a Walk with Jesus

Imagine

Rejoice

We Aren’t Different

Who? What? When? Where? Why?

War in the Black Zone

The World God Made

Remember

Time

Life

My Passions

Mother, the True Definition

Rain Down on Me

The Ocean

The Big D’s

Back in the Day

Inspirational Words

Definition of a Friend

The Making of History

Society Excluding God

Shacking Up

The True Me

I Made it Because of You

Deception

Father’s Day

Love

When I am Old

Wolves Disguised in Sheep’s Clothing

Negative Words Emanate from a Negative Heart

The Queen of Soul – Aretha Franklin

Dear Love

Whose Story is it?

Good Morning God

Positive Guidelines for Young Women

The Commandments for Effective Leadership

Happiness

Jean Watson: aka Jean the Dancing Machine aka Jazzi aka Momma

God’s Choice

A Man Carrying a White Cross

My Heavenly Home

A Christmas Thought

I Wish

The Essence of You

The Essence of Black Women

A Christmas Wish

Why

What Will it Take?

Senseless Actions

Think God

A Strange Summer Day

A Poetic Christmas

My Glorious Journey Home

The State of the World

What a Woman Needs

I Am My Sista’s Keeper

The Rain

Thought for Today: For My Niece Tracy

Today

No One Wins All the Time

Life Challenges

Self-Confidence

Jean’s Rhythm

Coronavirus

Covid-19

A Letter to God

God and Life are Similar to a Soap Opera

Inspirational Encouragement with Song Titles and Lyrics

A Mother’s Prayer

Conspiring to Harm Others

Nature’s Fury: Four Hurricanes

God Provides All We Need

Touched

What Does the Dream Mean to Me?

If You Believe

Get Ready for Revelation

Mr. Anger

Hello Santa

No Sunshine

Political Devastation

Your Life

My Prayer for Humanity

My Best Friends

My Life

God’s Tears

Fabulous

A Spiritual Lesson

If

A Place of Serenity

We are in God’s Hands

Special Dedications

The Essence of A Poet is dedicated to my immediate family, my husband Winston Watson, son Brian Watson, daughter Angela Watson, and grandson Aiden J. Watson. A very special dedication to my deceased parents Eddie and Fannie Richardson. Without you, there would be no me.

Special appreciation goes out to all my relatives and friends who supported my efforts and encouraged me to continue writing. Thank you for your support.

Sincere thanks to James & Kathy Coley for allowing me to use their beautiful yard for my photo.

Why Complain

Why complain about cooking? You have food to eat.

Why complain about the scorching heat during the summer months? You are blessed to enjoy various seasons.

Why complain about that old car? You are fortunate not to have to pay monthly car bills.

Why complain about the distance from one place to another? You are blessed with transportation.

Why complain about that old nagging bark from your neighbor’s dog? You are blessed with the gift of hearing.

Why complain about that stressful job? Many are unemployed.

Why complain about not having clothing to wear? Many are naked.

Why complain about paying the mortgage on your home? You are blessed with shelter while many are homeless.

Why complain about the various types of music? Be thankful that God created a diverse culture of musicians providing you with a choice of various types of music.

Why complain about those old scarred up shoes? Many people are shoeless.

Why complain about the beggar standing on the street corners? He just may be you one day.

Why complain about being stressed out? You must go through some things in order to acquire some things.

Why complain about how others live their lives? Many never had the opportunity to live.

Why complain about too much rain? Many people are in need of Heaven’s fountains and die from a shortage of water.

Why complain about who you are, or whom you wish you could be? Doing so is evidence that you are not in agreement with God’s choice.

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The Gift of Giving

When you give to others, you are also giving to the creator of man

When you give to another, you are giving back to God.

You gave spare change when His child was unemployed.

You provided clothing when His children were naked.

You fed His children when they were hungry.

You risked losing everything by giving His children shelter.

You wrote inspirational words for His children to bring them closer to him.

You gave freely when others gave nothing back.

You kept your faith when obstacles obstructed your path.

You shed tears when God’s children were hurting.

Your displayed sympathy as your enemy died in the streets.

You loved with all your heart and soul. You are blessed.

You gave His children water when they were thirsty.

You listened to His children when they needed someone to talk to.

You opened the door whenever God’s children knocked.

You offered His children your hand when they needed assistance.

You displayed respect for His children who did not deserve it.

You displayed compassion when some of His children were not compassionate.

You visited God’s children confined behind metal bars.

Your spiritual faith in God was outstanding, even during difficult times, trials, and tribulations.

You being the compassionate person that you are, put a gleam of joy in God’s eye, therefore, you have his blessings.

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What Does the Dream

Mean to Me?

The dream means recognizing the purpose of the struggle, and not forgetting the sacrifices made. It means greater opportunities for education, jobs, decent housing, freedom, spirituality, self-worth, equality, pride, and love for all people regardless of the color of their skin.

It means giving back to communities, encouraging young people to be the best they can be, and by encouraging them to take advantage of opportunities. The dream must be reiterated to our children to enable them to understand the true concept of Martin Luther King’s message, struggle, life, and death.

The dream is not just about the freedom to date outside your race, eat in the same restaurants, or swim in the same swimming pools. The dream means that color does not define who you are, or where you live. Only the actions and decisions you make define the type of individual you are.

A dream generating awareness in each of us that indicates that no man or woman is superior to the other; therefore, equality and justice should be the same for all. The dream means being able to recognize that the way to beat the system, and being smart enough to resolve a problem without acts of physical violence.

The dream means using your common sense to recognize that words do not generate change, actions do. One must recognize that most people refuse to change their old habits; therefore, we must look in the mirror and recognize that change starts with you. It only takes one person to impact the lives of others; after all, we are an example of the difference that Martin made.

The dream means that as a race we must fight to keep the drugs and guns out of the hands of our children, we must stop the black-on-black crime around the world and in our own backyards. We must stress to our community that we are a great race of people capable of enduring, sustaining, and weathering the storms we encounter without lifting a hand to violence. We must remember what the dream is about and make every effort to change the way the world views others because of their physical differences.

So, you asked, what does the dream mean to me? I respond, I am a product of that dream. A dream that enabled me to share written words of inspiration about one man who started it all. You see, dreams come true when you want them bad enough. In lieu of all my struggles, my many accomplishments, and failures, the dream is still alive within me.

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Tribute to Grandfather

Rob Richardson

I never had the opportunity to meet my grandfather. I do not remember ever seeing his face, but I have heard many things about him. I was informed that he was a wanderer, traveling by foot from place to place.

He believed in family and would often walk miles to spend time with them, sometimes staying at their homes overnight. I wasn’t born during that time. However, when his grandchildren saw him coming, they ran to greet him because of the bag of goodies he carried across his back.

Relatives stated he was a kind man who had so much affection for his family and did what he could. I chuckled when my brothers and sister told me that