Best Lived Poems
Six feet tall, feisty and tipping the scales
Aunt Eva approached life so playfully
Living in the moment, not fretting details
Even at 80 no harsh wrinkles had she
Just a few laugh lines from a life filled with joy
She couldn’t budget, her spending was free
Her brother (my father) was a CPA
It seemed he was forever bailing her out
When living expenses she couldn’t pay
Her gifts to others were funny as well
A used Bruce Springsteen shirt she bought for me
It was stained, too small and had a strange smell
This aging widow had young men calling
She was their dance queen and rocked all night long
Some may have found her youthful dance dates appalling
Last time I saw her, she stood in the street
Grinning and waving, as we drove away
I watched her fade from view from the car’s back seat
I am not remembered in any form or way
Undeserving of their love and respect.
I understand, and yet I grieve.
For myself.
For what I lost
Ignoring the ones who could have
Showered me with love
But did not
Because they knew me not.
I reserve my place in the cosmos
Of ignorance
Recognizing truth and love
once again upon the throne of death
as I enter a kingdom I do not deserve
The angels grabbed me and gave me
what I had sought on earth in the form
of lust, not even my biggest mistake.
My soul cries now
At a life not lived.
Philanthropic phrases of pluto sink
In my soul, a slave of lonely black
Charade, whilst butterflies flutter
In bruised heart, as pressed flowers
Grieve in between snowflake-
Pages of swan's fogged
Diary; I
Crawl upon
valleys
To
Touch
The peach
Arc of the
Sun and kiss the
Skin of polished blue
Crescent, but I drown in
Sapphire waves and garnet flames,
Carving artificial blood on
Nymph's ruby rocks; who will remember
The parched floral thoughts of a life not lived?
Do not come looking for me in
small corners of our house
I am not there
The vast space we occupied
where laughter lived
I left behind
The still place in our bed
once radiating love
I sense its cold
Photoless frames, shattered glass
a myriad memories
I will forget
Do not try to find me in the yard
or in the snow of blossom
I once loved
Forget you ever knew the wrinkles
around my mouth and eyes
I crumble
If you aim to memorize my face
know it will fade in time
I lost you
In any place you find me drifting
remember in your heart
I find you
***
May 28, 2017
Copyright © Darren White
Devoted family together, we grew.
Building strength, morals & virtues
Experiencing, accepting & learning
Trust & honesty, caring & sharing
Compromising & understanding,
WE LOVED!
United we reached & searched, we grew.
Affectionately sharing fears & tears
Engaging unrehearsed fun & humor
Enlightening the others hearts & souls
Genuinely amused & rejoicing,
WE LAUGHED!
Faithfully dedicating ourselves, we grew.
Committed to our individual life
Our own identities & styles to create
Achieving our goals & conquering strife
Temporarily reunite to enlighten & share.
WE LIVED!
Separate lives, our own realities unfold, we grew.
Apart combating our own failures & defeats
Our lessons & struggles abundant
With illuminated hearts & enlightened souls
Reminisce & commemorate our memories
TOGETHER WE LOVED, LAUGHED & LIVED!
Cast him not in bronze,
Nor sculpt in pottery clay,
Lay down the chisel
Where the marble bust holds sway.
Better to fold paper
In the Origami play,
So when fame has died,
He can quickly blow away.
Living the most complete life--
No man deserves less or more from living than another
From a tiny drop of nectar, a flower blooms
One blossom though different invites the same appraisal
Such is the life of a man…he merits happiness and fulfillment
Survey life’s purpose--
Assess what is the best and the worst that can come
If something is meant to be, it will find a way to happen
Never walk without knowing where to go
If no design, the desire may go unfulfilled
Follow the perfection of nature--
The butterfly flutters by radiating beauty
What is forgotten is how it attains its loveliness
Beginning as a hideous larvae, then the ungainly caterpillar
Bursts out of the cocoon as the magnificent butterfly.
Nature’s plan-- the butterfly thrives
Planning is the key--
Humanity mimics the beautiful insect
Once an unknown quantity, man wrestles with his prospects
A dream develops with deeply planted character and strength
Man takes small steps if he knows where he is going
Thus, a man finds the way to his aspirations.
Hold fast to dreams--
Planting the feet assures nothing
Impediments block the way
Sometimes, days open up like flowers blooming despite adversity
Sometimes, man leans too far forward injuring himself in his fall
Sometimes, he opens up his wings and flies needing no net to catch him
Test the possibilities--
To have a life well lived,
Man should venture outside his comfort zone
Do something that scares him every day
Dwell in the here and now but look to the future…
Grab hold of a smile and never let it go.
A Reflection Upon A Long Life Lived
So many things in my life have come and gone
idle days of fishing and resting in shade
Early morn sight of mother deer and newborn fawn
so many of the sweet , dear friends made
Holidays with grandparents singing happy tunes
picnics lakeside in grove of red oak trees
Birthday parties cakes , ice cream and balloons
disappearing ships sailing upon unknown seas
Loves, far too many in my wild younger days
beautiful girls waiting for a kiss
So awesomely pretty in their hot sexy ways
so many more did I foolishly miss
Life flowed on like a flooded raging river
me with a ship and no winded sails
Too often selfish taker instead of loving giver
driving hammer without the much needed nails!
Robert L. 05-24-2014
Truth in the telling. A wild life, mistakes galore , escapades on far too many shores!
To nature's norms have I complied -
I laughed, I cried, I lived. I tried.
I'd like to think in aftermath
There's more to my existence path.
I paid the procreation dues,
Dear offspring and their offspring too.
My children opened up my eyes
Far beyond me, myself and I.
The grandkids taught me quite a bit -
There's more to golden age than knit.
No shutters to wondering mind,
Just open it and you will find -
In brighter hue the greener grass
Is on our side in front of us.
Power is not how much but how
To stay aboard the flight of now.
Retired bliss converts the course -
Discretionary time to pause.
Smelling the roses is a must
As flower fanfare fading fast.
Hunger for knowledge, free to sate,
But wisdom's pride is heavyweight.
(No known tip-off to neutralize -
To shed the weights and keep the wise).
The all time norm by which I vow -
Not there nor then but here and now.
To nature's norms have I complied -
Once upon a time lived I!
February 27, 2023
And they lived hoppily
The princess sat along a stream,
crying in the sun
Closed her eyes and dreamt a dream,
about the perfect one
For love had never come her way,
she longed for it so much
The tender words that he might say,
a gentle caring touch
When then a frog hopped into view,
a slimy little guy
He smiled and said, “How do you do?”
A twinkle in his eye
She frowned for she was feeling bad,
not real sure what to say
Then whispered, “I am kind of sad,
but how are you today?”
He croaked an answer quietly
“I’m sad like you, as well
A handsome prince I used to be
before that witch’s spell”
“But fear not, for it could be worse,
it’s not so bad like this
The only way to break the curse
is with a princess’ kiss”
She rolled her eyes at what he said
“You must think I am daft”
Then saw the crown upon his head
and stopped before she laughed
Perhaps what he had said was true
and this could be her chance
To end this feeling, oh so blue
with a new found romance
He looked at her, tears in his eyes
Then said in sorrowed voice
“Don’t worry, I’ll just eat some flies,
it’s totally your choice”
Oh what the hell, she thought a while
this chance I shall not miss
And then he saw her gorgeous smile
as she gave him a kiss
A puff of smoke, the brightest glare,
then something did explode
And though she once was seated there,
now sat a princess toad
He never could imagine this,
his wish had just come true
When she gave him another kiss,
she felt the same way too
They fell in love, a perfect dream,
as joy now filled their eyes
And spent their days along that stream,
together catching flies
And they lived hoppily ever…
Oh wait, is that a tadpole I see?
I guess they lived VERY hoppily ever after :)
Ok, you can roll your eyes now. :)
Once Lived Life As Both Fox And Chasing Hound
Once lived life as both fox and chasing hound
each one thinking, they were true, honor bound.
As the fox, took great pride in being shrewd
failed often to see my actions were crude.
When fleeing forth in life at lightning pace
taking too much as I ran, a disgrace.
Never worried about deep and high costs
figured each cold Winter brought killing frosts.
When chasing old fox, my mind went astray
swearing to catch and eat him every day.
With each new dawn, my hunger more intense
I failed to see myself being so dense.
One sad dawn, I caught that shifty ole fox
his words showed me my big, dark prison box.
Blessed reprieve for him, I did not eat
His wisest move and both our greatest feat.
Once lived life as both fox and chasing hound
each one thinking, they were true, honor bound.
As the fox, took great pride in being shrewd
failed often to see my actions, were crude.
Robert J. Lindley, 3-25-2017
Syllables Per Line:
10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10
Total # Syllables: 200
Total # Words: 164
Note- Inspired by Tim Smith's free verse poem--titled the
-- The Fox And The Hound.--
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/the_fox_and_the_hound_884102
As I do not do free verse very well, methinks, I went with personification in rhyme and ten syllable verses.
Thank you my friend Tim Smith, for the great inspiration.. your free verse poem and its creativity
and depth inspired this effort by me , written in a much different poetry form.
I hope this poem written this morn, may honor your poem well, as an inspired tribute to it.
"Cats come in many kinds of personalities - the same as people do. Just be very grateful if a perfect one owns YOU." by Author
A lot of cats in my life I’ve taken in.
A silver Persian with green eyes was my first.
She was lovely, but so aloof – to my chagrin.
Some other cats had problems, but the worst
were those who would not use the litter box – I felt cursed!
Ralph, an ugly gray Persian with a smashed-in face,
had a purr like a roar; he was really nice!
Another Persian I’d named Lilah had a lady’s grace.
Black cat Razzmataz and Sookie (Siamese) – each one had her vice.
Strangely, not a one of them was interested in mice!
There was one cat I loved that was the best.
A plain-looking Calico was she.
Nineteen years she lived with us; I felt so blessed,
for Callie was as flawless as a cat can be.
After all these years, I miss her always being near me.
She’d follow me around, such a darling.
A little bell on her collar let me know
she was always there with its ring-a-ling-a-ling.
Today I have two boy cats -Simba and Chico.
They’re not bad, but next to Callie, they are only so-so!
There comes a day
When our time on earth takes us away
Everything in rewind
Running through your mind
It's all on display
In the most wonderful way
It all seems to unwind
Like a movie that you can see
If you were blind
No time to ask why
As hard as we try
Our time on earth has passed us by
Everything extreme turned up on high
I'm going to miss you all as it's my turn to fly
Please do not cry for me
My time is here
The time most of us fear
When our time is near
Time on earth is so dear
It all plays out like a big premiere
I love you all very much
Think of me often that way we stay in touch
Know that we all must die
At this point, I'm not asking myself why
My heart is weak
And soon I will cease to speak
When my soul will be released
To be able to fly into the sky
Where I can shine on high
As each new day passes us by
Remember we learn to laugh and cry
Without asking each other why
Someday we will reunite
When your flight comes into sight
Know everything between us set right
I'm tired of this fight
My life with God will be so bright
For a piece of all of you, I take with me
Now that my soul has been set free
Don't worry God is right beside me
Now I have to let things be
Keep all your wonderful memories of you and me
Because our friendship was always meant to be
Monday ~ it is off to work I must go.
Tuesday ~ the best night for TV watching.
Wednesday ~ tonight eating left overs from the weekend.
Thursday ~ I am almost to the end of the week.
Friday ~ I lived through another week, Hooray!!!
Saturday ~ it is a busy day washing and cleaning.
Sunday ~ a day for my Lord and me to talk.
Where did the time go???
She pumped the air and whooped,
'The holidays are through!'
She danced a jig, she spun,
and did a moonie too.
The grinning mother yelled,
'They're back to school again!'
But then her laughter died,
she groaned in awful pain
and mopped her furrowed brow,
for she's a teacher now...
written 20th August for Francine's Back to School contest