News Archive
Faculty News
Theater Professor Presents Poem at Spring University Commencement
 Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, associate professor of theater, presented her poem Because Some Can See It -- "Owl light" at the university's graduation ceremony in May. She regularly presents original poems at School of Communications and Theater graduation ceremonies and has published nine books of poetry. Her honors in poetry include winning the DamilerChrysler "Spirit of the Word" National Poetry Competition at the Unity '99 Conference. |
Because Some Can See It—“Owl-light”
By Kimmika L. H. Williams-Witherspoon
So when you walk …
Remember where you came from.
And when you talk …
Remember where you hope
To, one day, be.
When time’s demand
You’ve got to squawk
Be sure to stand
For what you believe.
If you can dream it
then you can see it.
If you can see it
then you can be it!
Family, teachers, friends, loved ones
Alma mater --
Look to the owl
& achieve!From Parent’s loving sighs
to first baby cries;
sibling games of hide and seek;
familial, grand
& great parents’ ancestral treats;
Keepsakes, blood ties
lives take;
Time
makes complete …
in an instant.From the very first morn
you were born,
loved ones
dreamt of this day;
imagined you here
“willed” it this way.
Building
blocks
of achievement;
some of us
first to make the walk
in family lines
one
step
at a time …Remember back to growing,
knowing
there was much more
that all this struggle was for —
Knowledge,
Study
Education
Learning
Nursery, pre-k
Kindergarten
Elementary
Middle
High
Now this.
The teacher
That took each him and her
Unlocking doors
Letting soar!
Not just teaching reading, writing;
But multiplying
Potential time’s possibility plus “pray-full”
willing
in them, no dividing.
You make them proud today
And for them, I again say:So, when you walk …
Remember where you came from.
And when you talk …
Remember where you hope
To, one day, be.
When time’s demand
You’ve got to squawk
Make sure you’re standing up
For what you believe.
If you can dream it
then you can see it.
If you can see it
then you can be it!
Family, teachers, friends, loved ones
Alma mater —
Look to the owl
& achieve!The older you get
The surer the bet
Friendships
Are hard to make
Even harder to make last
But we’re so glad
You came
Where you did
the most growing
in your pursuit
of knowing;
make us your home base,
safe place,
cherished space,
familiar faces
in an ever growing
definition of family.
This,
Just be one bend in the journey
Despite the rocks
& pebbles of challenge
a plenty
make this one of many
milestones
in an ascending path …Fate implies agency.
Destiny
is simply what your “revelers”
always knew “could” be.
The key to the journey’s walk
Longevity
is by chance and happen stance —
Your first thinking
& then linking:
How to make you life “be.”
With every milestone
step you take
on your way you make
as important as the last.So, No, don’t “smugly” think
you walk alone
even when life’s journey
takes you far from home.
Through ups and downs
& polar extremes.
Or those time, (that will come)
when all else seems
as if the weight of the world.
You have the tools inside
to succeed
& a mantra to reply
When you need it:So when you walk …
Remember where you came from.
And when you talk …
Remember where you hope
To, one day, be.
When time’s demand
You’ve got to squawk
Be sure to stand up
For what you believe.
If you can dream it
then you can see it.
If you can see it
then you can be it!
Family, teachers, friends, loved ones
Alma mater — Graduates …
Look to the owl
& achieve!© 2008, Kimmika L. H. Williams-Witherspoon
