I met Rohan Codling who came to work the graveyard shift as a doorman in my building.

Sometimes after his shift was over he would stay and hangout and talk to the folks that came by in the building and that’s how we became friends.

He’s a young, vibrant, alive 34-year-old that’s studying to become a male nurse.

I recently have gotten to totally enjoy certain kinds of rap and hip hop and so I asked Rohan if he would assist me in writing some lyrics to an inspirational rap piece that I had in mind. In so doing, he also shared some of his poetry that he has been writing since he was 12 years old. He wrote the poetry that turned out to be his saving grace because of much abuse that he suffered at the hands of a family member. As a result, his poetry has the sound of an old soul and Rohan is way older than his 34 years.

When I walk into our lobby and he’s on his shift, he brightens up the entire room with his amazing smile.

I asked Rohan if I could share some of his poetry. Here are two of the poems he has written:

A Matter of Heart

I say to you that my will is thy Good will

I will live in thy heart and die in thy lap

Kiss the lips of that which is like a cloud.

Soft through and through

Serve god and love me with thy mind and all that is you

I live to live for you and the grace of god which comes

Through my prayer for you and I

My soul strikes a chime that only ring a long note

Known to the angels

As the song of love which is never rendered A quiet moment,

For eternity, till time thus end.

~

I Am The Man Before You

 I am the man you see before you

The true test of time,

“Experience”

That’s who I am!

Who am I?

The past, present and the whole future

The future of my existence,

In the hand of whom I hold

In the hand of, which is mine?

 Walking through this life slowly

To absorb life, while I become

As valuable as time

Staying on the straight path

I hope to recover one day

From love’s wrath

Lick the wounds of a lost love

While forgetting lovers in my pubescent form

Admiring others that have grown up

Having the same urges that died with a part of me

When life’s truest experience comes alive “age”

~

Editor: Brianna Bemel

Sherri Rosen has her own publicity firm in NYC for over l2 years giving a powerful voice to people who are doing wonderful things in the world. She also writes for Gatekeeper’s Post, The Good Men Project, Her own blog, Redhead’s Blog, Triiibes, along with the wonderful elephant journal.  You can friend her on Facebook and Twitter.