TRUE LOVE TUESDAY: TIME OUT, GONE FISHIN', WILL BE BACK SOON!

I am going to take a break while I am on this Birthday HIGH!
I LOVE all the poetry, prose and love missives and I am looking forward to binding them into a personal collection. They have far exceeded anything I could dream of. I am in awe of the talent and the depth of feelings shared. This was very A Happy Birthday indeed.

On that note I take my leave.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVEBABZ PART 4: PHOTOS!

I am still basking in all the poetry, prose and love missives! There are more of everything, but I thought I would share a few photos! Flowers, gifts, my kids decorating my birthday cake and all the balloons!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVEBABZ PART 3!

OOOhhh, there are more beautiful poems to share! All so DIVINE!

My Sister-friend Laurie over at Not Just About Cancer posted the most beautiful birthday poem on her site. Big-hearted Warrior.

My beautiful Blog Brother Fitzgerald over at The Rich House, posted his deeply moving and stunningly beautiful birthday poem. It is a real shout out not just to me, but all the folks he loves in this blogland. This is his second poem. The first one he left on May 2nd in the comment section. I thought it was wonderful and hip and way cool!

My Sister-friend Ndelible over at Ndel's World penned a beautiful love missive complete with lovely artwork...hearts are my favorite things!

Birthday Blossoms
By Anali

There is beauty in becoming what we were meant to be.
We may not be there yet, but most of us can see -
that change that happens deep within
has a way of spilling out.
A smile becoming wide, eyes gleaming brightly.
Kindness and positivity of spirit - a spring in our step.
The hope and joy of Spring. Buds blooming into flowers.
The best of birthday wishes to you LoveB!
May you continue to bloom spreading your joy for all of us to see.

amour rappelant
By The Prisoner Wife

the sky broke orange
pouring melodies from clouds
and heaven christened you

we remember your words
full of encouragement, love
rooting for us hard and homegirl-like
reminding us to always shine
as bright as any constellation

A Haiku
By Anita Dayam Break

free from life's fears you're
blessed and strong-you are love-babz
life in transition

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE BABZ...PART 2

Yesterday was an AMAZING DAY! As my beautiful nephew Trent loves to say when things are going well...It's the best day ever! It sure was. Anyway as promised here are more of the beautifully written poems for my birthday. They are breath-taking! I have been back to yesterday's post a million times already, reading and re-reading the post and comments!

The Love I Know
By Xavier

Across the blogosphere
Recognition sought to introduce us
Like two old friends reunited
In that moment I perceived
Synchronicity's stamp
Etched on everything about us
Despite your doubts you stepped up
All I had to do was call
And daily you are the one
Giving me gifts
But today is different
In a special way
I want to acknowledge publicly
Exactly what you mean to me
Love is the hallmark of so much
That passes between us
Time, words, thoughts
Our common struggles
And even the way we have mated
Few can possibly understand my passion
Much less absorb it
You've actually held it in your hands
Recognized it for what it is
For that, you are forever special to me

Happy Birthday
From my soul to yours

I love you.

love
By Don, Minus the Bars

love
the most beautiful feeling
ever known
ever shown, by another human being
it left me feeling how the world
would be
could be
should we ever commit ourselves
to love

speak
By Don, Minus the Bars

i can hear it in your voice
your words serve as living proof of mainfested truth
no one can deny the course of righteousness
no matter what they do
if the truth is in you
it's in you
a person can lie about your words
shy away from that which is being heard
the truth will forever reach
all you have to do is take a deep breath
hold your head high
speak.

By Torrance Stephens

the blessed birth of a queen
dressed you the dream
and birthed smiles into the air

the earth of your mother
is the mother in you
woman that life lives freely
as such is expressed in your divinity

She
By Shai Lynn Davis

She is
A soul seeking
Total fulfillment
Unashamed
Showing
Her vulnerable
Self

She is
Love
Spreading
Sharing
It with anyone
In her presence

She is
An artist
Fashioning
Words
Effortlessly

She is
Woman
Feminine
Strong
Giver of
Life

She is
Parent
Beyond
Her womb
Raising warriors

She is
Insightful
Seeing below
The surface
Realizing the
Truth

She is
The epitome
Of the glory
God wants us
To see

© Shai Lynn K. Davis 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVEBABZ!

WOO WOO WOO WOO!
The phone calls started at 12:01 they did not stop until 3:00 am! It was my intent to post EARLIER! Sleep had other ideas! I am so EXCITED about my birthday! After I drop the kids off at school My whole day is FREE! I am coming home and taking a long hot bath! I will put on my silk pj's. I will listen to music, I will read, I will enjoy the stillness of the house. I know I will have a gazilllion floral deliveries coming...I LOVE cut flowers! I already know about the 45 red balloons! that will arrive today at 12 noon. This evening I will have vegan cupcakes and soy ice cream with my beautiful children...My Sister-friend JB took them shopping yesterday evening for birthday presents. I have dinner reservations with friends at my favorite Eritrean restaurant Caffe' Adulis. This is the most perfect of days!

Let the celebration with poetry, prose and love missives begin!

I remain completely overwhelmed by the responses. I can't even begin to thank folks for their kind and generous spirit! Scroll down and check them. And check the comment section too! I will post more through out today and tomorrow and the next day...

Mirror Re-Image
by Sharon Jenkins 4/22/08

At the core of you I recognized me
Significant and glorious and fully the “I”, I strive to be
Choosing love over all else especially fear
Your voice speaks the words my brain whispers in my ear.
Your smile reflects the joy of the life I’ve been gifted
Your heart plays the rhythms on which my spirit is lifted
From your words I gather nourishment again and again
So similar are parts of our journeys, I call you my Twin.
My sibling unmet, unseen, technically unheard
We’re related by blog, by hearts, and by words
Come hell or high water I know you are there
Strengthening me, steadying me, with your soul--so rare.
Geography notwithstanding we’re connected, you and I
Not born of the same parents, the laws of genetics we defy
More alike than different yet different all the same
Lovebabz you amaze me, and thus I speak your name.
I speak it when lonely, feeling lost, or afraid
I speak it when at last into night the day fades
I speak it in exclamation when so filled with happiness I nearly burst
I speak your name because you felt all of these things first.
“How can this be?”, when I’m the older I believe
Your wisdom predates your birth and from GOD it was received
You bring knowledge from the ancestors which you generously share
Teaching us all about love and not being afraid to show we care.
You are fearless about love and your message is heard
It fortifies us and encourages us to spread the good word
Until from my lips to his ears and so on from there
This wonderful chorus becomes a new prayer.
A prayer that is being answered in you and in me
A prayer that is being realized in everything that we see
In our children, our friends, and all the loves of our lives
A prayer that began with you and now lives and now thrives.
Changing the unchangeable is what you do so well
Each and every one of us benefits from the truths that you tell
New understandings help us all to grow [as you say] in love
And though this is your birthday WE received in YOU, a special gift from above.
At the core of you I recognized me
Significant and glorious and fully the “I”, I strive to be!
© Sharon J. All Rights Reserved 2008

Love in Transition
Like a Phoenix...i burned to become
who i am
I am rejuvenated
love renewed
I am
what God perceives me to be
So, i am
I am
A new breeze
a glowing flower
a full moon
the morning hour
full of ideas, and the grandest wishes
the remaking of me
I am
the future, bright and new
spreading my wings
lighting my life
breathing my dreams
living
giving
loving
me
The Phoenix,
flying high...
I am Love again!
***Happy Birthday Lovebabz!***
Posted by Mizrepresent

PIECAKE
Inspiring with words
Humor and humility
Real
Learning lessons to share

Brilliance and wit
Clever and fearless
Seizing a life full of love

Mom, Friend and Guide
Leading a family
Giving joy

Accepting support
Never alone
Encircled by a community
Who wish you greatness in all

Warrior for self
Looking inward then forward
Working
Confronting, Transitioning

Mindful in the present
Faith in the future
Blessings building and growing

Your birth is a gift
Life a journey worth celebrating

Thank you for choosing
To share the moments with us

Happy Birthday

Capcity: Here's my Birthday Poem 4 ya:
H eart-felt
U ndeniably
G racious and
Z esty.

4 evah

L iving
O ut LOUD!
V ivacious
E ncourager
B old
A dmirable
B ad-azz
Z ealous about her transition;-)

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

By KO JOHNSON
My first kiss
My first standing ovation
My greatest english teacher
The first time I caught a touchdown pass

Winning my first dance contest
Reading Iceberg Slim
First raid of Pop's dirty books

First date
First love
First sax solo
First sex duo

My first blog entry
My first really big speech
My first realization that there is life after divorce

My first time discovering LOVEBABZ

Happy Birthday Babz!!!

MY BIRTHDAY EVE & 1000 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE!

Tomorrow is my Birthday! 45!

Yesterday was an amazing day. Nothing in particular happened. I was just feeling all my Grown Woman-ness. It was sexual and spiritual. It was energetic and peaceful. I was rolling with all cylinders blazing. I was in my ZONE! Yesterday was a turning point. Another shift in my journey has moved me to another plain.

So for the next year, I am going to post 1000 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE! This is not a morbid exercise. It's really about living the best possible life, helping myself to all life's richest desserts! I am taking my cues from a few of my blog friends:

I am READY! like my Blog Brother That Johnson Boy Said What! I am putting all my oars in the water like my Blog Sister CapCity. And I am certainly taking cues from Raw Dawg Buffalo...Live Free or DIE! I am changing MY game thanks Rich House. What's important is right now. I have learned that from my Blog Sisters Princess Tinybutt and Not Just About Cancer. My Blog Twin Sister Just Write Now! With Sharon says in her profile: SHE IS A FAMILY WOMAN! I am too! I am too and I LOVE it! Yes there is a sensual side that needs equal attention, My Blog Brother Xavier over at Lovers Anonymous and my Aussie Sister Miss Smack over at Honey Smack shows me the joy in living with your sensual side up front. I am not hiding anymore! I am cultivating the artist in me like my Blog sister The Artist In Me and Mizrepresent Write for Life. And discerning my spiritual self and my divinity with my distant Blog friend Sojourner G and my favorite spiritual photographer Tony OH!

This is the best time ever. I am ready to live the biggest life possible. I am not afraid of tomorrow. I am not afraid of anyone or anything. My heart is open, my mind is clear. I am ready for love, life and the pursuit of happiness!

1000 Things I want To Do Before I Die!:

1. I want a knock your socks off, curl your toes KISS!


2. Learn to knit with my daughter Briana


3. Take an art class---Painting, sculpture, book-binding


4. Study culinary at the Paris Sorbonne


5. Be kissed under the Eiffel Tower


6. Make Love in the Serengeti in Tanzania, Kenya


7. Take the Orient Express form Istanbul to Paris


8. Live in Africa ( not sure where exactly--open for suggestions) for a bit


9. Visit Prague, Czech Republic
10. Herd cattle with the Masai in Kenya

May 2nd is My 45th Birthday

I am celebrating with

poems, prose and love missives

FROM YOU!

WHAT'S ON MY NIGHTSTAND...

I am a reader. I have been since I was 3 years old. I was reading Tolstoy when I was 9 and Message to a Black Man when I was 11. My Dad had tons of books around and he read a lot. Yep there are good memories about my Dad and I can remember. Anyway, because of this blogging world, I have found writers who have moved me to new heights of passion and intellectualism. Yep, I am smarter, or better still much more well-read and more passionate because of the writers I have found in Blog land. So here is what I am enjoying and I hope you grab a copy for yourself! I will periodically share what's on my nightstand.

Butter Brown
Short Stories
Torrance Stephens, PhD.

Hhmm don't let the cover fool you, she may be Butter Brown, but she ain't the Butter Brown. From the moment I opened the book and got into my first story I was hooked. Dr. Stephens has a way with drawing you in that makes you feel like you are a part of the landscape. That you are almost there. He writes with a real passion that seems to wrap around you and holds you close.

As a New Englander who attended college in the South, I really didn't know the South. Not the south of Torrance Stephens experience. His use of language unique to Memphis, Tennessee is mesmerizing and engaging. I found myself wanting to know more about the circle of friends he writes about and where are they now? I am not sure it's possible to have favorites, but I do have a few that spoke to me. I loved the short story Melinda. He writes so beautifully about a tryst between a man and a photographer, is it him? perhaps. But what I like is the way in which he approached the intimacy. It could have easily been nasty and gratuitous but it was lovingly done with care and you come away with the sense that Dr. Stephens knows something about women and their needs, but more importantly his own needs come through. My other favorite short story was the last one, for which the book is named..Butter Brown. The setting in Dakar, Africa is heady and sensual and colorful. You can almost hear him walking through the village with all it's exotic sounds and people. You can feel his love for Africa, his love for Sabrina Avery...Butter Brown. I loved this collection of short stories very much and I think Torrance Stephens is a very prolific and sensual writer.

Torrance aka All-Mi-T has a blog too, so if you want to get a flavor for his writing style and his take on current and world events check him at Raw Dawg Buffalo

May 2nd is My Birthday

Calling all poets to celebrate with me

with poetry, prose and love missives

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! MY FIRST POEM IN CELEBRATION.

My Beautiful Sister Blogger Mizrepresent penned the FIRST birthday poem! It is FABULOUS! Love in Transition at her poetry blog WILDFLOWERII. She left me a post at my What I Want For My Birthday post letting me know that yes, she was early with her gift. For me it was right ON TIME!

She has no idea how this poem has lifted me up at 2:30 in the morning. Yesterday was a bit daunting for me. I went to bed with a whole lot of challenges on my mind. And once again God has illuminated my path...with her poem. Thank you! Mizrepresent your poem is exactly the message I needed to hear today.

My Birthday is Friday, May 2nd.

WHAT I WANT FOR MY BIRTHDAY...

I make a big deal out of my birthday! I love Christmas, Valentine's Day and my BIRTHDAY! When I turned 30 I had a kid's birthday party. I invited all my favorite 5,6,7 year old kids from my neighborhood and my nieces and nephews. I had balloons, corny party favors, paper crowns, silly kid games and lots of cake and ice cream (soy for me). Each kid got a gift bag with my favorite kid book. It was the best!

When I ran for public office I announced on my birthday and had a fundraiser "old school" party. I raised quite a bit for the campaign!

One year my friends from all over the world sent me specially made chocolate cake. I had a month's worth of chocolate cake!. Now I am not proposing that again...YIKES!

The emails and telephone calls have started: what do you want this year? What is the theme? Hhmmm I want, I want, I want...

This year I want poetry, prose, any collection of words dedicated to me! I want all my friends including my beautiful blog friends to pen a poem, some prose, a missive, anything at all! That's it. It is my goal to post them all during the month of MAY! They can be anonymous if folks are feeling skiddish.

So all my blog Friends who are amazing at wordsmithing (see blog roll) I am calling you out on my behalf! My birthday countdown clock is up so you have lots of time. Lots of time! Of course I will remind you all over the next week. (smile)

I will bind them and put them into a book and that will be my theme this year: My own book of poetry, prose and love missives!

NO ONE IS EXEMPT! NO ONE IS EXEMPT!

APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH & COUNTDOWN TO MY BIRTHDAY!

My Blog Sister, The Prisoner's Wife is celebrating National Poetry Month. She is a very very talented writer and will be posting her beautifully written pieces. I LOVE Poetry! It has saved my life over and over again! So in support of The Prisoner's Wife and National Poetry Month. I am posting one of my favorite poems! Hop over to The Prisoner's Wife and post your favorite poem and of course leave one here!

On another note, My birthday is May 2. If you thought I was a fool about Valentine's Day, wait until I celebrate my birthday! God willing I will be the big 45!

Invitation To Love
Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Come when the nights are bright stars
Or come when the moon is mellow;
Come when the sun his golden bars
Drops on the hay-field yellow.
Come in the twilight soft and gray,
Come in the night or come in the day,
And you are welcome, welcome.

You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
You are soft as the nesting dove.
Come to my heart and bring it rest
As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.

Come when my heart is full of grief
Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
Or with the redd'ning cherry.
Come when the year's first blossom blows,
Come when the summer gleams and glows,
Come with the winter's drifting snows,
And you are welcome, welcome.