An Essay of My Life
By Runas C. Powers, III
 Self experience has saved my life in many ways.  Throughout my teen years and adult years I used alcohol and drugs.  They have inflicted me with much pain and heartache to the point where I just wanted to quit on life.  Although the grace of God has allowed me to be clean for 13 years now, this I take no credit for.  Throughout this journey self-experience has taught me a whole lot about life.
 I started using drugs and alcohol when I was eight years old.  My mother kept cooking wine in the refrigerator and one day I found it and began to drink it.  By the time I was in high school I had been to three rehabs and in four drug and alcohol related car wrecks.  I also found the love of my life, marijuana, which affected my performance in the classroom.  I used marijuana every day to the point that I no longer attended school, and when I did occasionally attend school, I was drunk.  Due to these struggles, discipline problems led to me going to four schools in five years.  Although I used drugs tremendously, I was able to function enough to graduate from high school.  Due to some relapses, hospitals, and rehabs, I also learned from my mistakes.  Therefore, I learned when to take advice and when not to take advice.  Still drugs and alcohol were a major part of my life.  I was headed on a crash course for death or a cell block but with self-experience being the best teacher I could ever have, I continued to learn.
 I later attended college twice, but failed to get a degree, so I dropped out due to poor academic achievement.  By this time, my habit was so bad that I did not bathe or brush my teeth for two weeks at a time.  My work habits were horrible and I lived with my parents who enabled my using.
 My sister got married in Jamaica.  Knowing me, I had to get high so I bought a bag of marijuana and smoked it.  As I hit the drugs, I knew I wanted to take it back to the states.  So after the ceremony came to a close, my family and I boarded a plane for home.  When we arrived in Atlanta a drug canine cop smelled the weed and I was arrested.  It was there that self-experience through God’s grace intervened and I was to be taught again.
 While in jail during processing, I was placed in a holding cell for a few hours.  Then a woman wearing white appeared who I thought was an inmate, but she spoke spiritually to me.  She told me that I had a God-given talent, and that the Lord Jesus Christ loved me and died for me.  She went on to say that no matter what we did in life, whether wrong or right, God loved us, no matter what.  I did not put two and two together about who this woman was; all I knew was that I needed the encouragement.  Then suddenly she was gone and I was left alone.  Today I know that this was a miracle in my life and that this woman that God put in my path was none other than Lisa Left-eye Lopes (a famous singer and rapper).
   Due to God’s grace I’ve been clean ever since, one day at a time.  So as I look back on 32 years of life, it was the mistakes, heartaches, and pain that caused me to learn. By this process I have grown, and God has helped me cope. So the combination of hurt, and God’s grace has made me change my life and become the man I am today. I thank the Lord for blessing me with the opportunity of having had these experiences.
 Today I am still pursuing a college degree, and have written three books of poetry, thanks to the lessons I have learned in life and my Savior Jesus Christ.

Life

Life
Ever wonder why,
You laugh, you cry,
You live, you die
You fail, but try,
To give your all,
But still stumble and fall,
Yet life is called a test,
Simply nothing but a test.

The Picture

The Picture
The struggle is way deeper
Than oppression, religion, and race,
It is an attempt at a suicidal genocide
To destroy one’s pride
Or ambition and soul’s strive,
It is the hurt and affliction of sickness of the soul
That tears up the whole,
Our blood is on the hands of government officials,
When we all as a people stand up
And blow our whistles,
Some claim reparations are our only gain,
A game to try to attain,
But four hundred years
Of tears
Will not confront the pain,
Of a mind’s race of detrimental thoughts,
That we were ourselves bought,
Because we were taught
And those thoughts left us distraught,
Leaving us in disarray,
But the one and only option we have
Is to pray.

A Poem of Love
She came with letters, love and lace,
Her jubilance was a joy to me,
In times of darkness she brought light to my face,
Making me feel unbelievably free, she is the love I will always see.
Before her I never knew love,
Still I long for the lasting joy of affection,
Now she is my unwinged dove peaceful with Christ’s blood,
She shows me guidance in the right direction.
From misery and self-hate,
It was her love that captured my heart,
She broke the bondage of my bitter state,
As I transcend through life, I knew I wanted her from the start.
As I know my love for her will always grow,
For she is the only love I will always know.

What is Life Like?
Life is like days and nights,
Life comes in the light,
And leaves in the night,
Sometimes it is fast like the blink of an eye,
Leaving loved ones with tears of sorrow to cry.
Life is like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly,
The process of metamorphosis,
Is all about change,
As we know, nothing stays the same,
Life is nothing but change,
And through these changes,
We have pain
Some call it going through “thangs,”
I call it life’s stages,
So life is stages,
What is life like?

Through My Veins

Through My Veins
Civil rights runs through my veins,
Can you imagine the pain?
Some talk of the old days,
And memory lane,
Those memories are hard to explain,
From Rosa, Johnnie, and Martin
There is no stopping
A life’s work in progress,
Without recess
That I attest
 and express,
The revolution must progress,
Not pause,
Too many have died for the cause,
And if we were to stop,
Their work would be in vain,
So that is why I say civil rights
runs through my veins.
I shall never forget the pain,
So one day the dream can be attained.

The Picture

The Picture
The struggle is way deeper
Than oppression, religion, and race,
It is an attempt at a suicidal genocide
To destroy one’s pride
Or ambition and soul’s strive,
It is the hurt and affliction of sickness of the soul
That tears up the whole,
Our blood is on the hands of government officials,
When we all as a people stand up
And blow our whistles,
Some claim reparations are our only gain,
A game to try to attain,
But four hundred years
Of tears
Will not confront the pain,
Of a mind’s race of detrimental thoughts,
That we were ourselves bought,
Because we were taught
And those thoughts left us distraught,
Leaving us in disarray,
But the one and only option we have
Is to pray.

An Ode To A Queen / For My Lady

An Ode to a Queen

Oh, caramel female

My eyes are set on you,

And in heaven I dwell,

Oh, brown-skinned female,

Let your vessel sail,

In my sea,

Can I compliment you

With lines of poetry?

They say beauty is skin deep,

But these words are for my soul to keep,

I treasure visions of you,

Knowing that I forever need you,

So pretty you be,

You make the poet make love to similes,

Your beauty is as mysterious

As the world seventh wonder,

When you walk, it thunders,

For nice things to say to you I ponder,

Oh, caramel female,

My eyes in heaven dwell,

When I see you

Oh, brown-skinned female.

So-Called Playas

So-Called Playas

Many who call themselves playas

Have gotten played,

From a righteous path they strayed,

Misusing the talents God gave,

To the world they act like slaves,

The ones who walk the path

Our ancestors paved,

Now look at how we behave,

Knowing God only can save us,

But He we do not trust,

But for guns, dope, and money is what we lust,

So as the cycle continues

The confused avenues

Of greed versus need,

Leaving our own blood to bleed,

While our forefathers died to learn to read,

We mislead,

And do not take heed

Of the right teaching,

And if I am to rhyme this,

Then it is quit preaching.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes
You were a spokesman of the oppressed.
Immaculate was the way you dressed,
You battled a life of stress,
With the written word you blessed
A young, hungry nation,
Who you gave birth to an idea,
Of a black writer
As an occupation,
You were a poetic giant,
Who loved blues and jazz,
A man of class,
You were the very essence
Of what a poet is to be if black.

These un seen eyes

These Unseen Eyes
Through life’s unseen eyes
Many try
And fail,
Knowing their ship did not sail,
Many die in vain,
Leaving their loved ones to maintain,
Through the process of change
Although it may seem strange,
Out of this thing called change,
Our lives are altered and never stay the same.

Finding Truth

Finding Truth

To find reality in truth,
Is to find yourself and truth,
Examine and define,
What you think is true and fine,
The facts that show proof,
The facts are called convictions,
To these we must avoid contradictions,
When we all shall fall to many sins,
But the truth will set us free,
To be one with truth,
And that One with truth
Is God.

From my new book to come Verses Of Pain And Love

A Poem called   Life Is Eternal

Life is Eternal
Oh the hardships we face,
Getting through them only by God’s grace,
Tears so sweet from heaven on my face,
The joys and sorrows
That somebody did not live to see tomorrow,
When we were all young
Silliness was how we hung,
Now a few years have passed on
And death has become our song,
Being ever so hard it is to go on,
Although life’s current is so strong,
By the Lord’s drum we march on,
A triumphant tune we hum,
Knowing that life does not end in the tomb,
Or start in the womb,
It is eternal,
 yes, so eternal.

Sweet Love

Sweet Love
Oh sweet love
As through life we go,
And endure,
Searching for love, being so pure,
Knowing it is a cure,
For the ages,
And all of life’s stages,
It frees us from the cages,
It is all over the good Book’s pages,
Oh, sweet love.
Oh, sweet love,
You never come and go,
As life comes and goes,
You will always be standing
Forever gently commanding,
Our respect,
Whether we see it in retrospect,
Or we judge by our own intellect,
We know one thing,
Oh, sweet love,
You complete life.

Laughter Instead of Tears

Laughter Instead of Tears
Life,
Pain,
Here and after,
I replace tears with laughter,
The storybook of love’s
Never ending chapter,
A novel of hardships
For those that God is calling,
Those slips and falls,
Life’s realness has its grip
On the vanity of insanity,
It is how well we handle triumph and tragedy,
whether foe or friend,
Who knows who will be there in the end,
The voices and choices,
Lessons and blessings,
And nature’s essence
Plus God’s presence,
The educational variety
Of life embracing reality,
Dreams are made to be reached,
And morals learned to be practiced
And preached.

The World I See

The World I See
The world I see
Is that you and me
Are the same you see.
We are different colors
And different flavors
Of the rainbow.
Still we all shine with God’s glow.
Although he loves us,
It is because we are all his kids
And that is life.
And that is what it is.

For My School

The Mighty Men of Faulkner U
We are the mighty men of Faulkner U
Who wear the colors grey and blue
To God all praise is due
Through and through.
We come to play to win
The old game of the pigskin
The battles we face, the opponents we erase
Are all a part of God’s grace.
To have a tradition of victory
Will build a foundation of history
Oh, we are the mighty men of Faulkner U
Who wear the grey and blue
To God all praise is due
We are the mighty men of Faulkner U.
  By Runas C. Powers, III

A Poem of Expression For The Celebration Of Black History Month

His-Story
If you are to see my face,
You will find that I am a part of the black race,
Yes, a male at that,
But still I am black
I was told that my color was a curse,
And that I would always be last and not first,
Which I would come to know
As lack, troublesome, and woe,
I was told if I was to try to learn of my past,
That I was not going to see,
This left me questioning my place in His-story.
They say that I came
From a land that I never saw,
Yet they want to call it the land of kings and queens,
But since I do not know my past,
I still hold onto the dream to be free at last,
So then I am to believe that I come from glory,
But is this to be my story?
It seems as if it is his-story.
It is being told, and I do accept the fact,
That I was bought and sold
For weapons and gold,
This still does not stop me
From having purpose and a sense of direction,
You see,
Because I find emancipation,
Through my spirit and thirst to achieve my aspirations
Although I struggle at times
To find peace of mind,
Knowing that I am living in perilous times,
Yet still I am asking the Lord for signs,
For me to find with him to guide
Me through a world that has such a closed mind,
Still I am learning what is God’s purpose for me,
And not just to be a part of history.

For Valentine's

The Queen You Are
You are a real jewel to me,
Like sapphires and rubies,
You are like music, see,
Sassy and jazzy like Billie,
Driving me insane and silly,
Your beauty is an instrument to the soul,
Or a rainbow to a pot of gold,
A date with you is a romance never told,
As a queen you sit on your own throne,
So sophisticated,
If you were a jazz tune,
Duke would have played it,
Your beauty only is upgraded,
That is why many women hate it,
You make the mightiest of soldiers
Lose composure,
A queen, oh yes,
You are the epitome of fresh.

Forever Gone Love

Forever Gone Love
Love is like daybreak,
When the sun rises
It is what you visualize,
Then as difficult as love gets
The sun sets
And then love is gone.
Love is like the ocean view,
The tides rise up on the beach
And love is at your reach,
The tide washes away
Then goes love drifting away
And drifting until it is gone
Then love is forever gone.