Keeping the Wolf Away From the Door
By Elton Camp
Who has seen hard economic times like these
Few of us are still able to spend as we please
Even those with jobs feel they’re not so steady
So to take on needless debt sure aren’t ready
It is very risky for most of us to invest in stock
But the low return on our savings is a bad shock
To fund our retirement we are told to be saving,
But the world all around us seems to be caving
And adding to the economic woes like these,
Many desirable jobs have been moved overseas
Another problem is illegal aliens who are able
To work cheap if they’re paid under the table
What can we do to repel that wolf from the door?
There’s a need for discipline as never seen before
It seems advisable to cut such expenses as we can
And work out and use a sensible budgeting plan
LOST IN TRANSLATION
i have become the page of a book
stored neatly away on a shelf
the others have their own little nook
they all know where they belong
all cataloged so they know where to look
this library is immense
but they'll still find their way
the other books are often checked out
the practicalities their pages concede
i guess it's easy if your understood
i'm written in a language no one can read
my best intentions are lost in translation
so distrust the advice that my words may heed
they wont work for you
cause they didn't work for me
a book with no cover
and no title page
some chapters are missing
what's left fade with age
paper ruined by my ink
belladonna blackened beige
The Old Ways Worked
Oh 50 years passed by with the flick of an eye
and our people got so soft don't you see
Back in the fifties people worked oh so hard
just to bring home the bacon for ye
Well the machines oh they came and the work it all went
till there was nothing to do don't you see
it was better back then when the kids had respect
for their elders who sired them with glee
Oh the people grow fat for there's nothing to do
no crowbar or shovel for ye
No sweat of the brow of a days work well done
and a cold beer at sunset for me….
Minority groups have stuffed up the world
full of great ideas so they think
So now the kids are out of control
anarchy comes to the bar for a drink…
Oh I got the cane at school yes too right..
teachers got some respect just from me..
I didn't steal cars & didn't do time
and I’m drugs and alcohol free?
……..Don Johnson
not a captain or a first mate
but an oarsman was to be their fate
the oarsman row the ship along
either one , two or hundreds strong
one small part of a large ship
but surly the tool that carries it
from sea to sea
an oarsman must have rhythm
and his back must be strong
his work is heavy laden
and his toil is all day long
sometimes when they falter
they feel the lash of the whip
the weakness of an oarsman
may alter the course of the ship
the life of a slave. an intelegent animal
a God forsaken trade,
reserved for the damnedable
the oarsman and his fate
though terrible and long
they did the work
and sang the oarsman song
they pulled the oars
moving the ship along
and all they get for thanks
was the lash of the whip
places were discovered
empires were built
the sea's goods were delivered
from oarsman driven ships
but still ; no thanks for the oarsman
or slave.
Has America ever thanked the slaves?
or the lowly who work the hardest and are
paid the least
are we still yet oarsmen
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.