Best All Work And No Play Poems
Away up north where it’s snowing they say
the elves are preparing for Christmas day.
Big elves little elves, busier than bees
All building toys, for under Christmas trees.
Some work with hammers others building bikes,
some riding through the room on brand new trikes.
Tiny elf voices ringing loud and clear,
everyone’s full of love and Christmas cheer.
Suddenly the chatter stops; all are still,
Santa walked in the room with book and quill.
Looking down at his book, Santa Clause stared,
then lifted his eyebrows as he declared,
Today I looked inside my books
and I found that we are ahead,
and thought because you worked so hard
we shall all go outside instead.
Misses Claus made lots of sweet treats
so let’s all eat and be hearty,
for today here at the North Pole
all elves shall have a snow party.
Quick as a wink the elves they disappeared,
Santa just smiled as he tugged at his beard.
Laughing he watched his little friends scatter
and soon the mountains echoed with laughter.
Snowballs were flying, snowmen taking form,
and hot chocolate kept little elves warm.
They were sledding, skiing, skating all day,
see, elves aren’t simply, all work and no play.
Written by Brenda Meier-Hans
11.29.2014
Contest: Children’s Christmas or Holiday Tale
1st place
Oh, the stress-free, carefree world of children
O' take me back to the lil kids' playpen
When we tried on mom's cosmetics and lipsticks
and built playhouses with plastic blocks and bricks
And had fun with cooking set picnics
Anything could be a toy
and our racket could annoy
We turned everything into play things
We played pretend queens and kings
We then played 'mom and dad'
Oh the squealing fun we had!
Teasing, chasing hens and kittens
climbing the grumpy neighbour's fence.
There was paper airplanes
and frisking in the rains
Paper boats too were made
and hide'n'seek was played
And when that wasn't enough
we played blind man's bluff.
We nimbly climbed the trees
hair flailing in the breeze
But our child's play naturally mimicked the grownups
Lil plastic ones instead of real porcelain cups.
Life was all play and games
in our growing mental frames.
Sand castles and kites
childish fights and frights!
And kind parents just let them frisk and play
for all work and no play makes one a dull boy
Study!study!study!
Mum says,yelling each day.
If only she could understand
All work and no play makes jack a dull boy.
I’d think about
Work without Play -
And doubt my mind…
For Nancy’s If I didn't think what I think, here's what I'd think contest
Two roads diverged in a yellow
wood
And I wondered if I really
should
Take the one more traveled by
Or let my mind sprout wings
and fly.
I had a scheduled conference
call
And a ton of please reply to all
I need that project yesterday
Too much work no time to play
Long I stood and looked down
one
Carefully weighing what must
be done
So long that I let the moment
pass
Then took the safer well worn
path.
Tired to success
Bright future I hear….. They say that’s sweet
Only smart people get there. Like me by the way
Well the smartness has a price
You can see the price; many books, heavy
I chase the future with a heavy load
Making smartness something I will want to question
It’s very helpful but exhausting
Making me lazy and tired
I have thought more than once; to quit
Can’t I be having fun and ecstatic?
I am beginning to ask questions
Are teachers really fair?
So I opened my bag or bags
And I found each name had siblings
Many math’s books, English……so many
And the more you have the smart you look
But it’s tiring, so exhausting
Must these siblings travel together?
I also looked at my play time
Oh sorry I have none; I don’t even have fun anymore
Now that is just the final straw
I start hating smart, it drains me
I am not complaining too much
Smartness is costly takes energy and time
I am still so young, I can’t help it
All work and no play… that’s right
It’s a helpful exhaustion but I have to
Then I look at myself and realize I have to
Someone will make me. They say it’s for the best
I am beginning to hate this...do I have to?
All work and no play
Makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play
Makes a life without joy
Don’t live to work
Take time for leisure
You should work to live
Life should be a pleasure
You don’t have to work
Every hour that God sends
Spend precious time
With family and friends
Don’t work all the time Jack
Get this into your head
You’re only alive for a short time
But you’re a long time dead
STRESSED
Sometimes when things begin to close in,
I'd like to sit down and chill out,
Find someplace to just get away,
And refigure what life's all about.
Sometimes it seems life's too full of demands,
My talents are spread way too thin.
There aren't enough hours to be found found in one day,
My duties begin but don't end.
Life cannot be just all work and no play,
Our youth is gone way too soon.
Think I'll start chilln' out before it's too late,
Learn to sing me a brand new tune.
It's good to know duty and good to know fun,
And when each begins and when ends.
One must learn life is filled with both duty and fun.
Learn to organize so it all blends.
Judy Ball
If you burn the candle at both ends you run out of candle too fast.
Come to my side and hold my hand
As we stroll through this maze called life.
I the teacher and you the student can travel side by side.
I see the whole forest
And you one tree at a time.
Come to my side and hold my hand
As we stroll through this maze called life.
I the forester and you the swimmer,
Can travel in harmony.
I see the landscape
And you the bodies of water.
Come to my side and hold my hand
As we stroll through this maze called life,
I the poet and you the mathematician.
I see the words and rhymes
And you numbers and logic.
Come to my side and hold my hand
As we stroll through this maze called life.
I the mother figure and you the child.
I can learn from you how to have fun,
And you can gain wisdom and understanding from me.
Because all work and no play reek!
In this journey of life our differences from day to day
Could infuse into a glorious harmony.
My weakness and your strength blend,
And each part is needed to make the whole.
Should I sell my soul to the devil?
I think I already have
Every word that comes out of my mouth
These past few years
Has been filled with lies.
Am I truly living I think not I sit back,
And let time tick away on the clock.
But all work and no play
Makes Johnny a dull boy
But who am I to define dull?
Who is anyone to define dull at all?
Or small, or people who are tall.
We all say we are a judgement free zone
But judgement plagues and aches are hearts.
If we only look a little closer
Past all our remarks
But on the days we feel blue we act like savages
Who are we to judge love?
When love also judges us
Love, is such a bust
A sham,
A myth,
I wish love didn't exist!
And on the days my heart feels cold and used
I find that those are the days I catch myself thinking about you
And all our broken hearts
I shall never believe in love again
Because it always falls apart
They say practice makes perfect
but none can be perfect
what then is the need of practice
if none can attain perfection?
Perfection is a state of the mind
achieved when ability beats work
but not overlooking the debris of leftovers
perfection is unattainable.
All work and no play
makes one think he is better than another
but perfection is still ahead of man
even after he falls down exhausted.
Man is imperfect
when he thinks he is perfect
for man can never be perfect
as long as God sees him imperfect.
your only half as old as you are smart
by counting my blessings every day my hindsight doubles
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
you wouldn't believe the irony....seriously
All work and no play
May have made Matt
A dull boy
All no work and no God
Has Matt with a lost soul
But he is moving on full steam
He is chasing the South African dream
He is going to give his family
The finer things
Not this time Belle
I have no time to waste
Maybe tomorrow
We'll have time to play
Then he slips into his new VW
He drives farther and farther away
Coz' he works all day
And tries to sleep at night
He says that things will get better
better in time
He works and he builds
With his own two hands
And poured all that he had
Into a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain
Come crashing it in
Time will tell
How long his kingdom stand
This South African dream
Seems more and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
Daddy can I have a Hauwei
Oh let me know
If you're working late
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away
Coz He works all day
And lies awake at night
He tells himself things will get better with time
They use to say that who live or die
With the most toys win
But when it losses its soul
Now that is a gain in the end
I will take a shack on a rock
Over castle in the sand
Coz he works all day
And lies alone at night
It seem that
he is running out of time
I seem to have forgotten
the purpose of civilization
we are to animals
as animals are to a basket of forks
C.J. Jung as the UFO pilot
in "Freud Attacks" a talkie
a flaming romp through the hubs of hell
hI kids it’s time for potty training
let's rent a car and take refuge
on the runaway truck ramp
I reached for the emergency brake
got a box of cigars instead
one of the 7 Psychological Wonders
the six others are too hideous to mention
I think we'll need subtitles for this movie
10,000 years of metaphysical illumination
and it's still all work and no play
Where might we find the Way of Fun
although when the black and white keys
all sound at once it still makes me wonder
like tearing your clothes off
at a funeral and jumping on the casket
screaming I've always been ready
OK that's death wish Wonder number 2
apparently life is not a symbol for something else
sponge my brow nurse this is delicate
but is it a subset of something else
as a catalyst to sensation
that's the appetite monster Wonder 3
mom made voodoo dolls from my ****
art is the candle in the skull
I have the power of death she moaned
where language is used to annihilate language
using words as an accusing narcotic
in the holy 4th Wonder of guilt for all things
a lot of ifs in there searching for what's next
tinfoil helmets will be issued
for the car bomb inferno
of the internal saboteur Wonder 5
next a blank diploma emeritus
from the Wewelsburg Engram University
a knife in the Oedipal eye Wonder 6
needless to say the Clinic of Doom
quickly ran out of volunteers
needless to say my chromosomes
cringe under their bed
awaiting a wonderful martyrdom
how did we become radio transparent
and make bargains with man-beasts
I guess a person is as smart
as they want to be
rather than as they need to be
the aid of uncopied ideas never hurts
the act of abstraction is child's play
I feel it my duty to tell you
you can do it in your sleep
but yesterday is gone for good
mourning and loss leave behind
a bed of fragments from Wonder 7
a person incapable of introspection
is a total failure as a human
From "Engine of Didactic Beauty" available on Amazon
Artist Portfolio: http://walteralter.byethost32.com/
Driving in my new luxury car
Richer then a movie star
All the lights shine on me
I'm beautiful with too much money
Strutting to be viewed
Living big on Dream Avenue
Ladies adore my smile
Babes I drive them wild
Guys all envy me
That's how life has to be
Dancing like a fool
Looking way to cool
Making the paparazzi drool
Splashing in my Olympic pool
I am everything new
Dreaming in Dream Avenue
Partying is understood
All my time is good
Celebrities gossip about me
I tie up everyone's technology
How can my alarm be so rude
Waking me up from Dream Avenue
I shave and drink coffee
Rush to work so I can be
Just another busy bee
All work and no play
Looking forward to any holiday
Into the grudge I fade
Life is sorrowfully blue
Daydreaming is all I knew
Wishes are never true
As the dreams of Dream Avenue