Maya Angelou Poem

An African American Author and one of the greatest poets too,
Can you imagine for just one minute, all the things that she went through?

Expressing herself through powerful words,
Her legacy will live on; her voice will be forever heard.
What a poetry icon, genius too,
Powerful words with meanings so true,
So extraordinary in so many ways,
Positive lyrics filled up every single page.

A writer, a story teller, one of the very Best,
The caged bird sings,
Was what she had truthfully confessed.
A teacher, an artist, an educator and an activist,
And a doctor, definitely the best I must insist.

An outstanding Poetry queen, the best the world has ever seen.
A true inspiration of words and loved where ever she went,
Humble, courageous; most definitely God sent,
She said ‘love Life in every single way.

Give it all you’ve got, come what may.
Love it with a passion,
Life does truly give back
Whatever you put in, that’s a natural fact.
Reaching out to people in dark places,
Giving them hope by putting smiles on faces.
Be positive and focused,
That’s the only way to win.

Grab the World by its lapels, it’s not frightening.
Go out there and kick ass,
Life is too short, to let it pass.
Outstanding phrases, amazing quotes,
A sense of reality on a positive note.

Lyrics so real, they make you think out loud,
A phenomenal woman of whom I’m so proud.
Simply unique, like a guiding star,
Words of wisdom, never too far.
The caged bird spreads its wings,
As it’s surrounded by heavenly doves,
the song of tolerance, peace and sweet, sweet love.

It’s singing about patience and forgiveness,
Words so bold beyond belief,
Bringing troubled soul’s freedom and relief.
Can you hear it singing that freedom song?

Rest in peace my dear, your time has come.
Love and light, goodnight, goodnight,
May her legacy live on.

Copyright © P Jones

Dr Carl Hylton, A Community Champion

We salute you Carl Hylton for all the good works you have done,one man of such greatness, a community champion.
Born in Jamaica on New Years Eve,
Carl was such an intelligent guy,
Starting out as a shop steward,
Then a foreman on building sites.

He attended Leeds University,
He became a Sociologist too,
A founder of Africa Curriculum Association,
And Chapeltown Independent School.

He encouraged and supported the youth,
And equipped them with the right tools,
Not forgetting the Leeds Reach,and the Black Achievers ,
And the Black Men's Forum too.

Bringing about awareness,
On lots of issues for people to see,
Conference education workshops,
How to live positively.

Then we have the Leeds bicentenary,
And the diaspora stories group,
Also the chair of Leeds West Indian charitable trust,
So much work to do.

Planning events and fundraising,
Carl loved his job through and through.
A community changer,
aspiring those to embrace change,
He taught us how to achieve the impossible too.
Such a great man with a worth of knowledge,
a freelancer, researcher, social justice activitist too.

What a difference this man has made.
Big respect due.

A man with a passion for helping people,
He would always find time for you,
A man who'd give back and expected nothing,
never a bad word, positive energy through and through,
no matter how hard you tried nothing could stir his tender mood.
.
So let's hold onto this positive legacy,that doctor carl hylton has laid,
as he set a fine example. that we can achieve anything no matter what age
We salute you DR Carl Hylton for all the great works you have done,
one man of such greatness a community champion.

Heavenly Father

Heavenly Father, we call on you on Tony’s 60th milestone Birthday,
As a family we come together and celebrate his life in such a special way,
As we celebrate this treasured milestone,
We ask you to surround us with your presence, build us up and keep us strong
On Tonys 60th Milestone Birthday help his sweet memories sing a happy song.

Help us to reflect on all the good times, and all the joy we shared,
As friends and family come together, lets remember the mark in our life’s he has made.
Dear Lord surround us with your blessings, lift us up and bring peace to our hearts,
Even though it’s hard to believe he has gone,
Lord your the one who helps us soldier on.

Because only you can give us comfort, as we reminisce each and every day.
Guide us and protect us and bless us in such a special way.
Dear Tony sweetly rest in peace, your work on earth is done,
You will for ever remain in our hearts.

One love from everyone.

See You On The Other Side

Seasons come and seasons go
but things will never be .the same,
We miss you oh so much,
and often call your name,
Empty seats are at the table,
we wish that you were here,
then say that thing get easier,
year after year,
it just seems like yesterday.
when we laughed and had so much fun,
see you on the other side,
my beloved one.

50 Years a Husband and 50 Years a Wife

50 years a husband
50 years a wife
You kept a golden promise
that love can last for life.
Throughout your years together,
you have such special things
the closeness and the happiness
that only true love brings.
Oh what a shining example,
for everyone to see
bringing people together, friends and family.
What a remarkable occasion,
for all as we celebrate here today,
It’s a 50th wedding anniversary
Hip hip hip hooray.

Well, my dad just loves the keyboards
and locks guests in the front room ,he’ll do anything to get them to sing,
Even Ernie the cat would sit beside him.
My dad! Oh what a sense of humour, always telling jokes,
My dad a choir master, who got on with lots of folks.
He would say, come on open up your mouth,
And sing along to the notes.

My mum, quiet and caring, counselling people from all walks of life,
She would often tell Brother Jones off, for eating too much apple pie.
She would say, remember you’re diabetic, your blood pressure will go sky high,
She would say, keep the living room tidy, “please sort out all those books”.
People are coming to the place, don’t you care how the front room looks?
My mum would wrap the world in cotton wool if only she could,
Well guess what, that’s my mum
Don’t you think that she’s good?

Tell me what’s the secret recipe, would you all like to know?
50 years of marriage bliss, here’s how the story goes.
Mix up a bit of patience, ideas and good thoughts too
Always remember mothers and father’s day, appreciation goes a long, long way.
Prepare a bit of flying fish, sure will keep your relationship alive.
Remember the way to a man’s heart is through his belly,
so if you can’t cook, you won’t survive.

Enjoy each other’s company, this will never go amiss,
remember the special moment when you had your first kiss.
Care and share with each other, remember all your secrets too, everything’s going just right,
it all boils down to the two of you.

Here goes the secret recipe, mix it all up in a dish,
50 years have gone on,
binding and moulding a faith so strong.
Now you know the secret, I have given you all the clues, the secret lies here,
Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour has gladly brought them through.

In Every Way beautiful

In everyway beautiful inside and out,
a remarkable outstanding woman without any doubt,
a cool calm nature, shining love peace and light,
In everyway beautiful she fought the good fight.
Never showed any falseness, she always kept it so real
always greeted you with a hug and a kiss,
a true love that you could feel.
In every way beautiful come what may,
someone you could trust and count on
to brighten up your day.

A distinctive personality, she would laugh at anything
and that smile, you would sure see it coming,
regardless of many things

a unique woman whom knew the value of having so much fun
she will be well and truly missed
someone so unique and simply loved by everyone.

So rest in sweet peace
now that you're heaven bound
the angels above await you,
you have done your family,
friends and community so so proud.
Rest in sweet peace

- P Jones -

A Reggae Icon

A reggae icon of all time,
Music from the 60s, with beats oh so fine
An Instrumental part of our reggae history,
Oh what a man what a legacy,
Born in Kingston Jamaica, taking his 1st steps in talent shows,
One of Jamaica’s sweetest singers, his talents soon got known.

A enduring songwriter and vocalist, whom sang and wrote the tide is high,
With easy going beats, embracing a rock steady style
A lead reggae singer in a band called paragons,
It happened quite quickly suddenly a voice was found.

What a romantic intake on the reggae scene,
With popular hits such as stand by me.
Girl your love is like wild fire, was also a popular one,
A love that I can feel, was all so strong,
Sounds of my love, and a little today,
And first time ever I saw your face.
Solo recordings, and cutting songs,
Remember oh island in the sun.

An inspiration that will surely be missed,
He won our hearts, sweet melodies.
His solo album called the peacemaker was quite quickly released.
Lots of hits and many songs simply too good to believe.

We salute you John Holt,
For the sweet music you have played,
And best of all for the reggae foundation you have made,
Rest in peace on your musical throne on high,
Your sweet reggae tunes sure will live on for all time

The Man With The Golden Throne

Here goes a special tribute to a wonderful man
who had music in his bones,
a very polite, caring, gentle nature,
whilst sat on his piano stool that definitely became his golden throne.
He would glide his hands across the keyboards
while swaying his head side to side,
he was definitely in his element,
whilst full of joy and pride.

Dad was a people person and always put others first,
his humour was remarkable and was continuously dedicated to his work.
Hymns, songs and music sheets, were always somewhere nearby,
sweet rhythms and musical beats, echoing so high,
Practising different pieces, studying them through and through,
he would quite often dig out the chuck wagon, for them golden oldie tunes.
He would always love a little sing song, “gather round come sing with me”,
he simply loved every minute, counting the beats 123.

He would play for weddings and many funerals, whilst coaching the choir too,
and if you required personal tuition,
when it came to music, he would always find time for you.
You see brother Jones believed anyone could sing,
you could have the croakiest voice, it didn’t matter to him.
You could have the roughest tone, believe me my Dad wouldnever moan.

He had books piled up in the living room,
Did you know he had 3 sets of keyboards too?
Left to him he would have them in every single room!
This man walked, talked and sang music,
he could feel it flowing through his bones,
there was only one musical maestro of course, that’s my Dad, Brother Jones.

Whether or not it would be the Beeston ladies or the Roscochoir or people from “New T”,
music was always dad’s heart desire,
most definitely.

And when it came to choir practice
he would say, “open up your mouth,
there’s no time to whisper,
I want to hear them words come out”.
He would say, “Move your body feel the beat,
you weren’t born with concrete feet”!
“Altars, sopranos, catch that tune,
Convention’s round the corner it will be here soon”.
Remember never turn up late,
when it came to choir practice,
no time to hesitate.
You see music was his passion,
he wanted to get the best out of you.
Music well, all he asked for was dedication,
he wanted your talents to shine through.

And if you ever heard his speeches,
they were immaculate to the ‘T’.
All his big words and sentences,
were truly beyond me.
He didn’t need to practice,
Words to him came so naturally,
they simply flew off the tip of his tongue,
no need for a dictionary.

I will let you into a little secret,
Brother and Sister Jones’s favourite colour was baby blue,
a soothing and calming colour, wouldn’t you agree,
that’s both of their personalities through and through?

So let’s celebrate today the life of my dear Father, Brother Jones,
Who’s reunited with his wife
and elevated to a mighty heavenly throne.

You're Special

I told you that you’re special,
In such a unique way,
The things you used to do, the things you used to say.
Your gentle words of wisdom,
Never went a miss,
You would say, “remember put God first,
Put a daily prayer on the list”.
Such a beautiful woman inside and out,
A woman of many talents,
Of that there is no doubt.

Veronica simply loved performing arts,
She played a big part in ‘Kuffdem’ at Mandela Centre back in the day,
Remembering all those scripts and taking part in many plays.
Do you remember, ‘Were All God’s Children’,
At the Playhouse with Geraldine Conor too,
Veronica had so much fun and laughter,
Her amazing character shone through and through.

A woman who loved her family and friends,
She loved her community with a passion too,
Parties, AGM’s, funerals, meetings, you name it,
She would be there, boy that’s so true.
I told her that she’s special on her birthday
Right there on her hospital bed,
I shot down them stairs at Jimmies, I nearly broke my leg!
But seriously, I’ll hold onto those special memories,
Like nothing else I’ve treasured before.
So to the sweet woman of love, light and wisdom,
Good night, good night, good night, Veronica Dore.

Diamonds In The Sky

(Words for Marian) (Words for George)

A Mandela warrior; big, bold and strong,
Such a gentle giant, who would hurt no one.

A doting mother, full of charm, love and light,
Always putting her kids first,
Shining a positive light so bright.

Let’s celebrate all that’s great,
A celebration of life and all that it brings,
Let’s hold onto sweet,sweet memories,
And just simply cherish everything.

Let’s celebrate who we are,
And who we will always be,
Oh what a difference you have both made.
What sweet, sweet memories.

A football coach, a basketball icon too,
A woman with words of wisdom,
Who’d always have time for you.

What a great father figure,
Family, friends and wife,

A woman with positive motives,
Full of joy and pride.

Let’s celebrate all that’s great,
A celebration of life and all that it brings,
Let’s hold onto sweet,sweet memories,
And just simply cherish everything.

- P Jones - Words by Personlised Unique Poetry©