Yesterday's Beauty

My clippers snipped on ruthlessly,
As if they were on their own.
I pondered on the short, sweet life
This once lovely rose had known.
Yesterday's blossom must give way
For one  waiting in the womb.
She had held her head so proudly
As she offered her comely bloom.
While in the bud she had dreamed of how,
Her beauty would startle the world.
The bee and the butterfly were there
As her sweet fullness unfurled.
They were her only admirers
As she flirted and primped and preened.
Charlatans come to sip from her,
Her moment of glory demeaned.
Regretting the loveliness I had missed,
I held her gently for a while,
Then dropped her faded remains into
The swelling refuse pile.

So it can be with humans too,
We're each given one shining hour
In which to activate our dreams
And show the world our power.
That moment missed, our chance is gone,
We are slipping the downward way,
With no one to listen as we shout,
"You should have seen me yesterday."

Won 4th place

Copyright © | Year Posted 2009



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 2/13/2019 9:19:00 PM
Wow!!! Congrats! Thanks for sharing your talent. God bless you.
Login to Reply
Date: 2/13/2019 8:00:00 PM
Congrats on winning with this skillfully crafted poem. A beauty, Joyce. Bravo.
Login to Reply
Date: 2/13/2019 6:32:00 PM
Joyce, your word choice is lovely and the point made in the last stanza is brilliant! Congratulations on your win on Mile 17 of my 2019 Poetry Marathon Contest! Thank you so much for supporting my contests. By continuing to place in the contests you are accumulating points toward the final. ~Mark
Login to Reply
Date: 7/13/2010 3:37:00 AM
Congratulations Joyce, on placing in the “Anything Goes!” contest sponsored by: Deborah Guzzi with this creative poem. This is your hour. Enjoy your glory! Smiles, Dane Ann
Login to Reply
Date: 7/9/2010 11:23:00 AM
Congratulations Joyce on your win in Deborah Guzzi's contest "Anything Goes" Love, Carol
Login to Reply
Date: 7/8/2010 4:23:00 AM
AWESOME!!!!!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!! This goes to my favorite list, Joyce. Congratulations on your well deserved win. Love, Lainie
Login to Reply
Date: 7/7/2010 6:32:00 PM
Congrats Joyce on your big win in the Anything Goes contest ..enjoy.. with luv from the "Sweetheart" ..
Login to Reply
Date: 7/7/2010 6:23:00 PM
Wonderful Poem Joyce! Congrat's on your win!~Tirzah~
Login to Reply
Date: 7/7/2010 5:02:00 PM
hmm you should have seen me yesterday, i was lovelier when young, and that how it begun, i love the feel to it, flowers are no the only ones, congrats on your placement!
Login to Reply
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad