Paris E. Tompkins's Page

A common experience like falling in love

Is familiar to all it comes from above

But the common experience of hatred and war

Is man’s greatest crime that’s spread from afar

Many know fear and many know pain

And many know bullets that fall down like rain

Mothers cry and children scream

While fathers and sons take their place on the scene

The enemy comes in with dogged determination

To wipe out a race, a religion, a nation

While others look…

When I awoke this morning, I had the words of my title in mind, but I was remembering an old Negro spiritual we used to sing in church. “How I got over. How I got over. My soul looks back and wonders, how I got over.” I remember my mother, grandmother and others singing it with gusto, thanking God for helping them to “make it through.” Then I typed in the words on YouTube, and found this song by The Roots, and it changed my whole attitude.

Rather than praise and worship, the words,…

Recently, talking to my oncologist about the treatment she is prescribing for my breast and bone cancer, she inquired about my mental attitude and outlook on life in general. It was not too surprising as everyone has been encouraging me to “stay positive” in order to beat this new health challenge. This idea of outlook on life brings me to the subject of how significant does the average person think his or her life is? I am by no means a celebrity or “star”; never had my name in lights…