My State Of Birth Poem by Curtis Johnson

My State Of Birth
By Curtis L. Johnson, Sr.

M portrays my feeling of MISSING something that I never had, and could never see.
The feeling that people were always MOVING away from me.
The feeling that MONEY would never come my way, but only flee.

I is for the times I experienced ISOLATION from things unknown.
The times of ILLUSIONS of being in another place, at another time, and on my own.
The times of longing to be INDEPENDENT, freed from the chains of poverty, and gone.

S is for the quiet zones of SILENCE where wearied souls came to rest, and to relieve their STRESS.

S also shows the miracle of SANITY that enabled me to survive this place of lack and loneliness.
And it shows the ability to SING even though filled with sadness because of man’s unkindness.

I is for the INSANITY of mankind’s injustice and inability to share the opportunities and the wealth with one another.

S also reveals how my family was deeply rooted with the hope of SALVATION.

S denotes the times and SEASONS of life. There is a time and a season for every purpose under the sun. Growing up in the pains of poverty, I knew that someday “this too would pass.”

I further signifies the ability of the INDIVIDUAL, who with desire and determination, can rise from the strap heaps of despair and ascend to distant stars.

P demonstrates that there is no device that can be devised by man that is able to destroy anyone who dares to seek refuge through the POWER of Almighty God.

P also enables me to be overwhelmed with a deep sense of PROMISE.

I finally says to me that I am capable and well equipped to bring INSPIRATION to others.

You see, I was born in 1949, where the hot sun shines, where the clocks seemed slowed by the sands of time, where the humidity and the sweat combined, and flowed down my spine, where on a September day near a railroad line, Mississippi became the state of mine.