If - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'  If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

When I Have Fears

Another poem about fear, not the fear of dying but the fear of not achieving everything before you die.


When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

John Keats

Our Deepest Fear

This Poem by Marrianne Williamson was used by Nelson Madella in his inaurgeration speech and is often atributed to him.  It serves to remind us all to be brave not let our fears hold us back.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.

 

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

 

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.

 

We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

 

It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.

 

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others

 

 

 

Marianne Williamson 1992

Island Dreams

This is a poem written by a student during their summer break which captures feelings many of us have felt during this summer of sporting endevour  and achievement.

I dream of lush green valleys,

Of a patchwork of quilted land,

I dream of Kings and Queens

And of a booming brass band

I dream of scoffing fish and chips,

When gazing out to sea,

I dream of gorging on scones and jam,

Washed down with a cup of tea.

I dream of queuing endlessly,

To enter a stately home,

I dream of immense castles, magnificent and proud,

Of valiant knights protected while I roam.

I dream of fine Olympians,

Sweating blood and lots of tears,

I dream of one Community,

And our pride for years and years.

I dream of a glorious heritage,

With an amazing sense of pride,

I dream of the Union Jack,

Billowing mightily over the countryside.

I dream of this spectacular Island,

Of all that has gone before,

I dream of my Great Britain,

Why would anyone ask for more?

By Nicole 7a1