Best Make The Grade Poems
Just a regular curbside puddle,
It really wasn't that big.
But it had the look of an ocean,
To a sweet little puppy named 'Pig.'
"Your paws might touch the water,
No chances that you will drown."
Pig looked at his master- all crazy,
And was frozen like ice to the ground.
"It's only a wee-bit of a puddle,
You'll easily make the grade."
But Pig wasn't ready to listen,
He stood there and was very afraid.
On a leash Pig's brand new owner,
Tried in vain to nicely persuade.
But Pig just wouldn't listen,
To pleas that his new person made.
Again -"it's only a little puddle,
You really won't get very wet.
You could see Pig was thinking,
"Wets wet! And I'm not ready yet."
"But the water is only a trickle,
If you try you'll see you can wade."
No matter all the sweet talking,
That pup just couldn't be swayed.
The pup felt a tug on the leash,
The water was coming too near.
So Pig started his squealing,
And squealing was all you could hear.
Discouraged -his person relented,
And lifted the scaredy-cat Pup.
He bypassed the wee little puddle,
And lost, by picking Pig up.
I wanted the end to be funny,
With a moral to find I could spin.
Yep, a guy with a pup he'd name 'Pig,'
Has a pup that is smarter than him.
Villanelle : If you haven't had that, what have you had*
If you haven't had your life, what have you had
In fear of what lies beyond the locked safe-door
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead
Fear of what others may think, nothing's more sad
Yet if you abandoned all care, who'll forbear
If you haven't had your life, what have you had
Since James*, Mottram*, Barrau* live not a day dead
Yet don't they live safe as Confucian State's heir
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead
Or do they live safe to be thought Reason-bred
The best of all the Worlds where Time's a mere snare
If you haven't had your life, what have you had
Walk Eternity back to Big-Bang zero-bed
What has no Beginning cannot End-fruit bear
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead
No Future's secret the Yi Jing* has not read
Don't ephemeral hordes breed the Jün Tzu* to bear
If you haven't had your life, what have you had
Live you now the moment, not for what's ahead
Resources/Notes
" Quotation from Henry James' Ambassadors : " If you haven't had that (your life), what have you had "
" Henry James (American novelist), Eric Mottram (British poet, professor, critic), Aurélien Barrau (French astro-physicist, philosopher, poet)
" Yi Jing : the ancient Chinese Classic of Change
" Jün Tzu : the Noble or Superior Man, the advice given in the Yi Jing is meant primarily to distinguish the Superior Being, all the rest are mutatis mutandi " ephemeral beings " which makes one wonder if Life on Earth is not a mere breeding-ground experiment to produce the " Superior Being ", the rest - if you believe in " samsara " or reincarnation - condemned to be born again and again until they make the grade.
© T. Wignesan - Paris, May 14, 2019
You talk behind your neighbor's back,
And say things most unkind.
It seems someone who won't do that,
These days is hard to find.
You re-tell things you promised not,
To let any others know;
But if you think it'll serve you well,
You'll tell all that you know.
You bite the hand reached out to you,
In friendship and in trust,
To be accepted by the ones,
You know to be unjust.
The ones who wield the power,
Can be used just like a tool;
For it's well known that in this world,
We bow to majority rule.
So what if you've betrayed a friend?
So what if you have hurt them?
So what if you have caused them harm,
By saying things about them?
You must look out for number one.
Yourself is first and foremost.
It matters not you've hurt a friend,
Because you're self engrossed.
You'll find a way to make the grade,
And be one of the crowd.
If you must step on a bug or two,
The pop won't be too loud.
But your new friends will step on you,
If they find that it serves them.
What goes around will come around,
And sin begets more sin.
Eventually it all comes back.
What you sow you reap.
Friends like you I just don't need.
For you I'll lose no sleep.
I went to the dentist
It had been awhile
Yet after much drilling
Followed by filling
The bills heaped in a pile
He said come twice a year
Or try to make it three
Brush three times a day
And floss the right way
And maybe just maybe
You’ll be a dental star
Which sounded bizarre
But did what I was told
Though received a scold
From that dental czar
He said come monthly please
To avoid tooth disease
And floss between breaths
Which was not life or death
Though it wasn’t a breeze
But it wasn’t enough
Oh, my dentist was tough
And then he dared to say
To come once a day!
While my tooth he did stuff
He seemed to be leaning
For a constant cleaning
Of all my dirty teeth
Both above and beneath
As if he was meaning
To be on my payroll
Funded by my poor soul
But he wanted power
To clean my teeth each hour
Or he’d have to drill holes
In more of my molars
He was a steamroller
Needing to do more
Which sounded like war
With him as a tooth gaoler
Yet his chair, I was in it
Every other minute
Every single day
For he got his way
And knew how to win it
Still, I did not make the grade
So he tried to persuade
To avoid drilling
And any more filling
He preferred that I stayed
Well I tried to be cross
Asking when do I floss
When he said, I reckon
We’ll clean each second
With no time left to pause
Thus, I reached the high bar
As a famed dental star
With no plaque to cleave
But, with no time to leave
I bid my life au revoir
Morning coffee, read the paper, brush your teeth and make the bed
Start the car up, drive to work with endless chatter in your head.
Rhythm’s just a decoy, really, structure faked for social poise
Must pretend, must feign an interest. Wouldn’t want to lose the toys.
Just ignore the yearning, silly, only fools have dreams these days.
Shoulder to the grindstone, Buster, don’t you know what really pays?
Over obligate yourself then hurry to the next event.
Don’t take time for introspection, musings never paid the rent.
Reinforcing concrete walls with rebar to protect from storms.
Cyclones of emotion dashed to bits before reaction forms.
Hold her steady, make the grade, ignore distractions, toe the line
Numbness is a good sign, keep it up and soon you’ll be just fine.
Can’t afford admission to tonight’s seductive shadow play.
Vulnerability and nakedness too high a price to pay.
Courage is for sissies, only children should be reckoned tears.
Safest bet’s to keep pretending that you’ve conquered all your fears.
Because the Fe is before the Male
life has a fee to be paid by the male
the first shall become last
the last shall become first
“just like a woman!” smoo…cheese!
The price for life has been paid
By the upper higher grade…
the “Conscience” is life persuade
The sacrifice has been made
Esau did not make the grade…
being of the flesh persuade
The male is not without the female
Neither is the female without the male
Reality of life is a plus and minus
Conscious Love impulse unites reality of the two
Just the way it is, life is not an impossible quiz
The heavenly marriage
Is given to encourage
Love impulse is totally one
Uniting the two, for life is fun
Simple and direct, of flesh not a speck
Listen to me
As I tell you what you don’t see,
The teenage struggles of today.
I tell you what I say
Is true.
Teenagers do struggle through
Life as we know it.
So why don’t you sit
And listen to the truth of
How teens struggle in love
Looking for the one to call my dove.
How they struggle through school
Just trying to be cool,
To make the grade,
So the knowledge won’t fade.
We struggle with the bully
And popularity.
We struggle to find who we are,
Searching low and far.
I hope this helps you to see
What it’s like to be
A teen whose troubles are unseen.
Walk through the halls of an unknown land
Trying to figure out how to fit in,
May not be the same as everyone else,
But is that a reason to cut me down?
Every day I face a new battle don’t you see,
Not knowing who will push or tease me.
Will I be made fun of for my clothes?
Will I be shunned for my shyness?
Will the other kids laugh and point?
Who will beat me up I think to myself,
when I am alone in the hall?
Will anyone hear my cries?
When I am running for my life?
Kids tell me I am to slow to score a goal,
Teachers tell me you’ll never make the grade,
They look at me and see what they want to see.
When will I be seen for me?
My parents tell me do not be afraid.
Do not listen to what they all say.
Your dreams are powerful and can be attained.
You are worth more than you’ll ever know
Don’t give up on yourself.
I sit in my room at night and cry,
Wishing I was like them inside.
Why do kids hate me so much?
What did I ever do to make them hurt me so?
I just want the bullying to stop in school.
I want to be free to explore the world.
I want a chance to find myself,
I want to be happy once again.
I want to find the smile I once had.
I want to be seen for who I really am,
I just want a new beginning.
With parties abounding
Why stay home alone
Your Mon and your Father
Can’t see that you’ve grown
No talent or accent
Are you really quite plain
No thunder or lightning
Just a 13 year rain
The pressure to join in
It’s really intense
Obtain the right symbols
On any pretense
No flash zoom or dazzle
You’ll not make the grade
Until you’re prepared
For the great masquerade
Trade referent for symbol
And true wealth for cash
Make failures flamboyant
And cultivate dash
Just live for the moment
It’s all that you’ll get
Don’t think back or ponder
You’ll only regret
That what you must lay down
Exceeds what you’ll be
Just wood in a sawmill
Not a lush growing tree
Another holiday has come to pass and I am no prouder to be an American than when it started.
What are these holidays for I ask myself?
Are they designed for the little man to feel like he’s getting a break from the monotony of
a humdrum workday. Rest him up and throw him back to the dogs or is it about big money. Seems everyone is having a sale or going out of business sale. These furniture stores go out of business more that a nickel bag crack seller on a Wednesday night on the Jersey Shore. Can you imagine working for one for these slime ball opertions? One day you got a job, the next day who knows. How does that conversation go?
“Hey listen Margaret, we are having another sale.”
“Oh no not another sale, is this a going out of business or and everything must go sale?
I haven’t seen my daughter in 5 years since that last everything must go sale. She wasn’t even suppose to be here for the love of Pete.”
“No, no nothing like that we are going out of business but will open again Monday. That thing with your daughter, well those Chinese’s people made us and offer we just couldn’t refuse, you understand.”
My other favorite is the 5 years no interest financing on everything in the store. They know you aren’t going to pay and that one day you’ll get hit up for 36% interest.
And for Christ Sakes where do they get the “actors” for these TV ads? Are they washed up **** stars that couldn’t make the grade or just some fat cats concubine that thinks she’s in the movies now? Look Elsie I am on TV…does that belt make me look fat? It ain’t the belt honey.
So goes another Labor Day/Memorial Day/Fourth of July/Presidents Day/ Martin Luther King Day/….it really cheapens America and what we stand for, and I for one am ready to end this downward slide into the bowels of America and say we combine them all into one big week, yeah Garage Sale Week. Now that’s an American tradition that has stood the test of time!
There once was a man who was afraid he wouldn't make the grade, in the past he'd been betrayed so he spent most of his time in the shade, playing charades.
Then along came a real babe, who's name was Jade who he paid and did get laid but he was also played. Now mind and body are starting to degrade, he might have come out better drinking raid.
Now life he tries to evade, feeling like sitting on a granade as the tears cascade, his life's portrayed a masquerade.
So he went to himself and prayed, from out of the blue came aid, the things in life he weighted, then arrayed, he's now on a crusade.
Whenever you become afraid because you have strayed and run into a blockade while the consequences are coming in spades, remember most of. Your problems, You Made.
But you can always upgrade like the man who went to himself and prayed. Now his life is arrayed and he's on a wonderful crusade.
So beware of escapades, you can very easily get played.
They burst on the silver screen
Each a goddess, a sultry queen
Adept in the tricks of the trade
Striving to make the grade
They were each a living doll
A beautiful image portrayed
As every role they deftly played
In each home, they were center stage
Their latest movie all the rage
They were careful not to fall
The signs of age began to creep
Plunging some in depression deep
Forced to accept the lesser role
Not to act, meant not being whole
They tried the sad end to stall
I wonder if someday to you
I might become a “has-been” too
If my poems lose their power
Accolades no longer shower
Will you remember to call?
Eileen Manassian Ghali
Listen to me
As I tell you what you don’t see,
The teenage struggles of today.
I tell you what I say
Is true.
Teenagers do struggle through
Life as we know it.
So why don’t you sit
And listen to the truth of
How teens struggle in love
Looking for the one to call my dove.
How they struggle through school
Just trying to be cool,
To make the grade,
So the knowledge won’t fade
We struggle with the bully
And popularity.
We struggle to find who we are,
Searching low and far.
I hope this helps you to see
What it’s like to be
A teen whose troubles are unseen.
Oh, trusty eraser,
You error replacer,
I thank you for clearing the way,
Preventing disgrace
When I cannot embrace
Words I’ve chosen which do not hold sway.
Just one swipe of your being
Gives way to me seeing
A blank where a blunder has been
So I’m once again free
To discover the key
Which will help me again to begin.
On computers, “delete”
Is a method discreet
To remove words that don’t make the grade
But eraser, you meet
All my needs as you greet
What my pencil has wrongly displayed.
the choices we make in life
can be good ones or bad
but there is one choice i made
that i will be forever glad
the day i gave my life to the Lord
and stopped doing things on my own accord
i gained so much confidence
that will never fade
regardless of everyone making me feel
like i'd never make the grade
people used to say i can not write
they said i could not sing
but that important choice i made
changed everything
i am a published poet
and have wrote new songs to sing
giving my life to Jesus taught me
through him i can do anything
the choice to follow him
is the day i will never forget
the best choice in life that i will never regret.