This Is Who I Am
by Cheryl C. Helynck

This is who I am.
This is all I know to be.
I have a dream that must come true.
A vision and a fire burning deep within, 
that those will remember 
when they think of me.
I choose to follow my own destiny.
I choose to follow my own dreams.
Taking a stand to control 
my own heart and head.
Doing what is right for me, living and 
loving according to my own judgment.

Some see one face.
Some see the face that changes.
There are many sides to me and
 together we must follow
the road that lies ahead. 
The journey where the storm never ends.

There is a power in me.
There is a strength within.
My fate is in the winds 
but every ounce of me
must see it through this journey 
that carries me on to eternity.

Determined to find my way.
Determined to overcome the obstacles.
Carrying faith in who I am regardless 
of the doubts that creep into my thoughts,
 always being true to me.

I know what I have to be.
I know what has value to me.
Born knowing that I carry the qualities 
to be a social sparkling star but 
preferring my own periods of
quiet solitude.

I am as gentle as soft blowing breeze.
I am as wild as the winds of a tornado.
Confusing those who only see one or 
two faces that are me.
Unpredictable in the face that will 
emerge as the outcome
of the turning of a card.

I must choose to live.
I must choose to give all that I can.
Accept me, love me, understand me, 
ignore me, hate me,
it is the voice inside that matters. 
My song has to be sung,
I must see it through.

I have been high 
and I have been low.
I have been quiet and
 I have been heard.

If you love me, care for me, trust me,
respect me, accept what I am.

Understand me if you can but if not
allow me to be honest with who I am.

written by Cheryl C. Helynck
"Reflections Series" 1998  

Poem by©Cheryl C. Helynck
Visit Cheryl's website by clicking 
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My Way
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I travelled each and ev'ry highway
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do ,
I saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course,
each careful step along the highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
And through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
The right to say the things he feels
and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and
did it my way!