PARENTS SPEAK OUT

Hi my name is Paula D Golden.

I am an author, poet, wife and literacy advocate. My journey in writing began during the welcoming of my children.

While they were small I wrote fictional stories that were fun and exciting. During their teenage years my writings included a collection of poems of the challenges our family faced along with families in our society.

My role as a mother was to push through internal and external conflicts and guide and help each son. Throughout that journey it broadened my awareness of the tragedies youth face daily and their cries for help.

This collection reflects my thoughts for those recovering from so many vices in life that have harmed self or loved ones. I hope my poetry will prompt readers young and old to reflect in a way they embrace hope.

May each person struggling or person with a loved one struggling find a path toward total physical, spiritual and emotional wellness and thrive!

I received my Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education at Los Angeles Pierce College, and I hold my BA in Fine Arts from California State University Long Beach. I am also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and illustrators, (SCBWI) and the National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I served as co-chair for the Southern California Valley Committee (SCVC), currently the SCC-CAAEYC. I was an annual participant in the Author’s Celebration in Santa Clarita Valley, at the Old Towne Newhall Library.

I have self-published three titles, A Surprise Party for James, A Pet Just for Me, and In My Time. The latter two titles are translated in other languages and have been produced as board books. Assembly member Nazarian has recognized my participation in several community events, which I read to and autographed books for families with children in attendance.

I Wanna Come Home

by Paula D. Golden

What can I say? What can I do?

Will she believe what I say is the truth?

I promise I won’t smoke weed anymore.

I promise to pick up my stuff off the floor.

I miss my room and the warmth of my bed,

not roaming the streets and closer to dead.

I miss those hot meals Mom made for me.

I don’t miss the drugs or the beer actually.

I want to work hard just like my mom did,

two jobs and school for our family to live.

Now I can see clearly all that I had,

I wanna come home, I wanna real bad.

What can I say? What can I do?

I never thought to walk in her shoes.

Because if I did, I wouldn’t be here,

recovering addict, clean for one year.

I wish I could have just one more chance,

to be back home, not stuck in a trance.

I want to talk and hear her voice,

not struggle with my drug of choice.

I remember how I caused her pain,

my fast lifestyle that was truly insane.

I’m stepping forward and not looking back

I wanna come home, please keep me on track.

I want to be ready to pick up the phone,

and say, “Mom, I love you and I wanna come home.”

Think Before You Drink

Iced tea, water or ginger ale,

or crash your car and go to jail.

What makes you want to drink all night?

Curse, get rude then start a fight.

You don’t even know what day it is.

People around you just want to live.

Think you’re macho or trying to impress

the giggling girl with the short tight dress.

You grab your keys when you leave the bar,

far from sober when you get in your car.

Everyone wonders how far you will go.

Wish for a flat tire so your car gets towed.

Drink all you want, but don’t drive a car.

Ask for a cab or walk home from the bar.

Call a sober friend to come pick you up.

Get the car later when you’ve sobered up.

Yes, you can drink, but not to get drunk,

because when you’re drunk, you act like a punk.

You want to get arrested and piss in a cup?

It isn’t that attractive for a mature grown-up.

Blowing in a test tube that reads a .08.

Guess you’ll share a cell with a lewd inmate.

There goes your car, your license–your job.

Can’t walk a straight line and you look like a slob.

You killed a family, a child, a husband or wife,

for the love of alcohol and the partying life?

Let’s rewind and when you get drunk again,

please take the time to call up a sober friend.

Thanks go to you for saving lives on the road,

including your own when you arrive safely home.

START OVER

Paula D. Golden 2014

What if you could start over?

What would your choices be?

Would you still lie, cheat or steal?

Would you still bully the girl that took her life?

Would you be that rebel without a cause?

Would you drive drunk?

Would you choose drugs?

Would you curse your parents?

Would you run away from home

because you couldn’t go to a party?

This is your opportunity to

START OVER.

Many youth are dead.

They can’t acknowledge their mistakes.

They can’t make better choices.

They can’t apologize for those they hurt.

Those options are gone.

They can no longer become leaders.

Some are still alive and in the prisons.

They yearn for the opportunity to start over.

Not everyone is ready to start over.

But, if you want to do it,

you are young and still have choices.

Think about what you will do first and

START OVER.

All rights reserved. No part of these literary works may be reproduced, distributed, or recorded in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or mechanical or electronic devices or methods, without the prior permission of the author.