WELCOME TO MY MUSINGS
Here I will share custom poems, excerpts, videos of poetry readings, interviews and the like. Please choose from the categories in the sidebar, or scroll through using the buttons below. Love, Leah
Remember
Hold on to your heart
Hold on to your hope
Hold on to each other
And remember,
Remember the promise, the gift and the glory of the movement
Hold on to your dreams
Hold on to your truth
Hold on to love
And remember
Remember your very own stories, your ancestors
the soul of who you are is full of this power
Hold on to the future
Hold on to the promise
Of true freedom in this land
And remember,
Remember the promise that together we can
Build a world where all colors can walk hand and hand
Hold on to the torn pieces of fabric
We can sew them back together
And remember,
Remember that we must be strong
We cannot give in, or let go, or forget
Together we will fulfill the dream of a free nation
With love as our sword, on the wings of the dove we soar
To that day when we ain’t gonna study war no more…
And remember
Dear sisters and brothers
“We are the ones we’ve been looking for”
Leah Goodwin • February 6, 2015
Written for spoken word presentation during ROAR with SOUL* worship service
*Resist Oppression And Racism with a Spirit of Openness, Understanding and Love
Laughing at Love (or six easy steps to allowing love into your life) is an inspirational, poetic journey into the lighter side of relationships. Each chapter begins with a poem and inspires the reader to take a chance on love, celebrate the love that is present, even if for a moment, and basically lighten up in the areas of commitment, “forever,” and the need to control. Love is a joy, each experience a gift, each opportunity a treasure, so go ahead and laugh about it — it is better than crying. I will post more about this book when it is published.
Laughing at Love
even though at times I feel like crying
Laughing at Love
is much better than dying
Laughing at Love
is a way to keep on trying
Laughing at Love is the cure,
ain’t no denying.
© Leah Goodwin | 2008
I wrote a poem in honor of Andrea Cecelia Rendon’s family at the time of her passing that became a part of the funeral service program and served as a higher level of support for family and friends.
Andrea Cecilia Rendon
Transition Poem (Eulogy)
The lunar eclipse called you
And you answered — take me home
Eighty-three years young
The next step of your journey has begun
You leave behind five children,
nine grandchildren
and five great grands
They will keep the story of your life
safe in their nineteen hands
They will celebrate and remember
those moments cherished and true
They have photos and gifts and memories
of the love they shared with you
Andrea Cecilia Rendon
This prayer we say for you
Is a prayer of love and gratitude
For the work that’s no longer yours to do
Dear Mother Father God,
Great and Holy Spirit, Jesus the special son
You sent us an angel one day
And on October 27, you called her back
home to stay
We are grateful for her presence
Her ability to stand up and try
Her many little habits
That we will hold onto as time goes by
So take Andrea and keep her
In the place where there is no pain
And shine the light of love into the family
To let only the joy remain.
For death is not the ending
It is the beginning of something
we are clear
Some day we will all be with her
When that time for us draws near
© Leah Goodwin | October 27, 2004
For Tom and May Fagan’s wedding, I wrote and performed a poem that was then given out as a unique and personal party favor for all who attended.
Love
We are surrounded by love
If we but open our eyes
Love is above us
in the clear blue skies.
We can hear love whisper
To the dreams inside our hearts
In the motion of each wave
We are never truly apart
Love is around us in so many ways
However we get a chance today
To celebrate the most sought after kind of love
This love, shared by Tom and May.
Did you know, more than five years ago
they met at a business meeting
And while the speaker was speaking
Tom was talking to May
Not interested in what the speaker had to say
He was taken with this woman who was sitting to his right
He thought, I would like to take her out dancing some night.
She really came to hear the speaker,
But Tom seemed nice,
and he had good advice
So as the meeting ended
Tom left with seven numbers he worked hard to get
They were attached to the phone of this lovely brunette.
He called right away and the dating began
From dancing to eating out
To movies and fun
They were happy together, one woman – one man
Things were easier hand in hand
After two years of dating, May sat Tom down
She asked him, are you just fooling around?
Tom was taking up all of her time
And May wanted him to get off the dime.
She said, “Do we want the same things?
Is there a future for us?
If not we can just part as friends,
No need to fuss.”
Well Tom, took a moment.
He sat up all night
For any other girl he would just say okay
But there was something, something in his heart about May
A little voice told him he needed to stay.
May talked to Mariel, who told her that it was all right
That they were a true family ready to unite.
Happy Together
Opposites attract
An artist – a numbers person
They learned how to laugh
Seems like a lifetime
since destiny placed them right next to each other
A chance meeting that became a special journey
They find the joy of
A heart to heart love
A true happiness together
Of course there have been some hard turns along the way
But Happy Together has brought them here this day
To stand in front of us, family and friends
And say yes to a love,
A happiness that never ends.
© Leah Goodwin | October 11, 2009
Here is the poem I wrote when my father died.
James C. Goodwin
The Winds of Change
The winds of change were blowing
Caught up in the balance of life and death
I claimed Fierce Grace
to send my Father home
The winds of change were blowing
Creating order out of Chaos
Providing divine intervention
The right people, words, songs and prayers
The winds of change were blowing
Moment by moment
Time moved fast
Time stood still
The winds of change were blowing
Scents of sage
Coffee, tears helped life staying
And supported life leaving
The winds of change sent the sun in
And in one swift last breath
They picked up my father
And blew him in to heaven
Swoosh
The winds of change rested
They felt like
Butterfly kisses on our cheeks
We cried
Because we knew
That Dad was in that wind
The winds of change rested
With a freedom song
And a million love beads
Providing energy
To send him upward
And the pure light within him
Carried him home
In the wind of change
© Leah Goodwin | April 14, 2013
In My Father, My Legacy I share a historical journey through the story and legacy of my family. It begins with my grandmother Ruby Berkeley Goodwin’s achievements in publicity, film and writing and chronicles my father’s accomplishments as a Tuskegee Airman and administrator for Cal Berkeley. My hope is that readers will discover how it felt to be a bi-racial child of a Polish Jewish mother and an African American father who met at Cal Berkeley on the debate team in the 1950s. There were challenges on both sides of the family; worry from the African Americans and expulsion from the Jewish family. Through my words, I show how my family’s life and love changed the hearts and minds of so many, then how their shared accomplishments affected the community. This journey culminates in Jim Goodwin (my father) accepting an invitation to attend the inauguration of United States President Barack Obama with his daughter (me) by his side.
My Father, My Legacy
A living part of history,
A young Tuskegee fighter pilot
Who graduated from Cal Berkeley,
Then worked in the community
Organizing with Dr. King.
My Father, My Legacy
A fighter for peace
A lover of nature
An eloquent speaker;
He could have been a
Beautiful actor like Sydney Poitier,
Instead he chose to change minds and open doors
Working in minority affairs at Cal
My Father, My Legacy
He taught me so many things
The fine arts
The golden rule
The meaning of love
How music can make the soul sing
My Father, My Legacy
He means the world to me
He has seen so many changes in this great nation
And soon he will witness Obama’s inauguration
My Father, My Legacy
There is no place I would rather be
Than right by his side
Still his little girl
Hoping that maybe
A piece of his greatness
will spring alive in me
© Leah Goodwin | 2008
I began writing stories and songs in verse to entertain and educate children while I ran Happy House Childcare in Berkeley, California. I am a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and it was from this organization I won Honorable Mention for High Flying Pat (read the story below on this page). Other children’s stories I’ve written include A Song for the Moon, Lazy Lily, Mary the Sleepy Dragon, Or Maybe a Horse, I Lost My Blanket and two stories about Kendra, a deaf African American girl who goes to school and to the doctor.
High Flying Pat
© 1991 by Leah Goodwin
There once was an airplane named Pat,
Who dreamed and wished as she sat.
I want to fly, fly way up high,
I hate being down,
down here on the ground.
Now whenever she got her chance to fly,
She marveled at how the time would go by.
I love flying up with the clouds in the air,
I’ll never go down to the ground,
way down there.
She glided, she flew,
Through the air, clear and blue,
This was the life that she loved,
it was true.
The people inside
Were so tired of flying,
They yelled and they cried,
That pilot kept trying
To bring Pat the plane down.
But Pat just kept flying around and around.
She said, “I love to fly, way up high
in the sky,
I’ll never go down to the ground,
No not I!”
“We must land!” said the steward.
“Stop this plane now!”
“I can’t,” said the pilot,
“I just don’t know how.”
They pushed all the buttons,
They pulled all the levers.
But Pat was just tickled,
She was smart and so clever.
“The flying is up to me!”
She shouted with glee.
“I love to fly, way up high
in the sky,
I’ll never go down to the ground,
No not I!”
Around and around Pat the plane flew,
Around went the people, the pilot,
and the crew.
Then the pilot looked down
and he suddenly knew
That Pat would soon land
in a minute or two.
Meanwhile young Pat, not sensing a thing,
Kept flying around and she started to sing.
“I love to fly,
way up high in the sky
and I’ll never go down to the ground,
No not I!”
Then right in the middle of her happy song,
Something was happening,
something was wrong.
Pat’s engine was stalling,
the pilot held fast.
At last Pat the airplane had run out of gas.
She couldn’t keep flying up high all around,
Her time was all over, she had to go down.
The pilot carefully steered,
The people all cheered.
When Pat touched the ground,
They were all safe and sound.
Well, Pat the airplane, I am happy to say
Still loves to go flying up high everyday.
But Pat learned the rules
And she keeps them in mind.
They’re easy to live by and easy to find.
Every plane that goes up in the air
Must come down
To help all the people get home
safe and sound.
The End
I was honored to be one of 40 women who were celebrated at an exhibit at the Women’s Museum of California, February 7 to March 30, 2014. The invitation reads: “The Women’s Museum of California is proud to celebrate the diverse beauty, brilliance, and bravery of Black women around the world by highlighting local women who have made significant contributions to women and their communities.” The exhibit was curated by Starla Lewis, head of the Black Studies Department (now retired) at Mesa College, San Diego, CA.