Bittersweet

There’s some bitter and some sweet,

And it must mix and mingle;

For this life, we know,

Not a thing is single.

Take a bush of Roses,

And as everybody knows;

You must prick your finger,

If you pick the rose.

So our lives are bittersweet,

Mixed with smiles and tears;

But usually the sweet is sweeter,

Than the bitter of our years.

Langley, Ivene Kate. Bittersweet. 1st. Brunswick, GA: Erawan Printing, 1973. Print. 1.

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I’ll be sharing poems from her books from time to time. As her daughter, I can do that, and I so want others to get to know her work. I’ll also try to give bits of history about the poems; I was usually there when she wrote them, and I know where her inspiration came from most of the time–her family.  

* * * * *

I first saw the next poem in a Valentine Mama gave me; I was about 12 years old then. She had drawn the cutest little heart knocking on a door with little tears spilling from its eyes. She dedicated “The Heart” to me in her book, and it remains my personal favorite.

The Heart

 

“Let me in,” said the heart

As it knocked upon the door.

“I’m so sad and lonely,” and

Tears fell on the floor.

 

“I love you,” said the heart,

“and want you to be mine;

Won’t you always, please,

be my valentine?”

 

And as the door stood open,

Two heart embraced as one;

A thing of joy, forever,

A piece of poetry thus begun.

 

–for Cherry

 

Langley, Ivene Kate. Bittersweet. 1st. Brunswick, GA: Erawan Printing, 1973. Print. 13.