Best Opportunity Poems
I take my hat off for the flag
I stand up straight; let others sag
I get all weepy for Old Glory
thinking of my family's story
They came from Russia with naught but hope
with just their wits to help them cope
No language skills or education either
Money or living quarters, they had neither
But they scraped and scrimped, and just kept going
Gramps peddled junk, grams did the sewing
And with the help of God, it all worked out
Hard work and faith -- their kids did sprout
My father an attorney, my uncle a physician
All due to gram and gramps' prescient intuition
To emigrate alone, part of no community
to an unknown land of opportunity
Sweet opportunity is sometimes lost
when placed too nonchalantly on a list,
and somehow off that list it just gets crossed!
How sad to realize the good you’ve missed!
Great chances must be grabbed! They rarely wait.
Sweet opportunity is sometimes lost.
The wise man takes each chance that comes his way.
Procrastinators see their chance get tossed!
Some stick with what they know, but at what cost?
Suppose new treatments could postpone your death.
Sweet opportunity is sometimes lost.
Regret could haunt you to your dying breath.
An island holiday you do not take
when it is offered. So you wake to frost
outside your window on your late fall break.
Sweet opportunity is sometimes lost!
Oct. 29, 2016 for the Opportunity Contest of Nayda Ivette Negron
He could have studied harder in school
He knew he should have, but he didn't
He thought to ask his sweetheart to wed
He knew he ought to, but he didn't
He planned to try harder at work
He knew he needed to, but he didn't
He might have been good at almost anything
He knew he should have been, but he wasn't
He shouldn't have been homeless, but he was
He didn't want to lose his job, but he did
He'd never asked to be born, but he was
He was going to discuss it with his folks, but he didn't
He wasn't supposed to die on a cold winter's night
under a bridge, in a cardboard box, his feet wrapped in rags...
Pardon me, I am aspiring
to some day be retiring,
but first I must be acquiring
a position. Though I’m not keen on perspiring
I admit I have been admiring
your benefits and employees’ attiring,
and since a salary I’m requiring,
and I trust you aren’t frequently firing,
and I promise not to be with unions conspiring,
I thought I’d simply go about inquiring
if perhaps you were hiring?
3/16/2021
In the Land of Opportunity
Entitlement reared her pretty head
Without a backstop to plain bad luck
Social Security's safety net was spread
Next came the 'War on Poverty'
Food Stamps and ADC
It might have staved off hunger for a bit
But dependency was galvanized, and (yes), obesity
Today there is unprecedented help
for anyone who will only yelp
Free computer classes, GED, ESL too
Guaranteed Job Training programs in high schools
and community colleges, Yahoo!
Yet the percentage of those working has gone down
and dropping most free classes reigns supreme
Seems that 'giving away the farm'
won't bring back the American Dream
It's only one man's unscientific perception ~
but 'teaching a man to fish' still passes inspection
__________________________________________________________
ADC = Aid to Dependent Children
GED = General Education Diploma (Equivalent to High School Diploma)
ESL = English as a Second Language (for immigrants and their children)
When love paints a picture we can clearly see
Igniting powerful emotions between you and me
Unlocking the door setting our spirits sailing free
Empowering our souls lighting up so magically
Allowing us to bond into our forever destiny
Together as one in complete harmony
Love opening windows of opportunity
Shaping our life into all that will come to be
Exploring boundaries without being denied
Feeling our love that is so magnified
Out in the open where we don't have to hide
Where we can enjoy life's amazing ride
Praying it's enough to get us to the other side
Not being defeated by our foolish pride
In a special place where our hearts light up the sky
With God living in heaven turned up on high
Wonderful the way love rolls in like the ocean tide
Life's cherished memories are locked deep inside
As we take them all in stride for stride
Making sure to keep our eyes open wide
Breathtaking watching our love collide
Living life's tender moments before they pass us by
Honoring each other in love without asking why
Sharing a lifetime together is what makes it all fly
WHERE OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS
She sat all alone in the dimly lit, smoky barroom
Nursing a gin and tonic that the ice had melted in
Her countenance was that of someone jilted
With a look that showed disdain for men
Two stools down there sat a stranger
Whose face had the same look as hers
It had a veritable blank stare look
That takes place when jilting occurs
Suddenly the bartender said rather loudly
Last call for the lonely hearts club
And at that moment their eyes met
The dim glow from the dimly lit bulb
Seemed brighter than ever before
He approached her ever so slowly
And offered to take her home
Her thoughts were he is so lowly
But the opportunity seemed quite harmless
So she accepted his generous offer
After all, they both were so lonely
And such a chance may have much to proffer
1 November 2019
Last Call For The Lonely Hearts contest - collaboration sponsored by Line Gauthier
I held my breath as long as I could
Until my lungs began to burn
I forgot my Tibetan embodiments
And gave breathing again, a turn
O, I held my breath and waited for you
From October, till Winter’s depth
Yet you could not say
On any day
That your heart held any breadth
For me or my breathlessness or my cares
Or my happy days or my joys
You measured me
By another tree
That splintered
And left you forlorn
And you hoped for naught
So, your ropes were caught
In the tree
Like a kite in a storm.
O, there’s always a reason
Why loving fails
And makes a person go
And your wordlessness
Made me blow out my breath
And prefer a sensible life
To death
And go out to watch the snow.
I am...
a hello/goodbye guest.
I show up dancing,
twirling about like a dervish,
shaking my tambourine;
dance with me!
I'm no clown; take me seriously!
I'm always friendly
whenever we meet
face to face.
Shake my right hand;
do not stick yours in my face
and tell me
to talk to it instead.
Don't blow me off like that.
Each time I meet you
at crossroads, follow me.
Each time I visit
your humble abode,
your mind,
your dreams
and knock at the door,
open it!
Open the door
and welcome me in.
Do not leave me
waiting too long
out in the cold, because...
I lack patience.
Don't say I didn't warn ya...
Yet again the door is being knocked
For ages it’s been closed
Who is there?
The Sun looks down
Breeze Halts!
Tulips raise their heads
But the Cascade___still singing like an indifferent Bee
Knock___ knock___ Knock!
How persistent the knocking is!!
But who is there?
Its light from the peepholes
Enlightens the valley
Fills the Tulips with Joy
Old Cider tree opens its eyes
Sheds away with one jerk of its head
All the dead leaves
Pale, sick and dried
Concealing for a while
Image of the orange sitting sun in the cascade!
At once, Gigantic Mountain roars in panic,
The sun closes its eyes,
Breeze hides away in a dark cave,
Tulips are now harming themselves in despair,
For the light is fading
I can hear sound of the feet going away
There is but No more knocking…
It’s dark now!
Tiny little moon is waiting for the stars to shine
The valley is silent
But the cascade and distant wolves
And somewhere far behind the Forbidden Forest
The door is still closed…
When you are young do it all.
Every single thing you ever dreamed of doing.
Because when you are older
The inclination is there, but the knees are not.
The teeth are crumbling.
The back wants to sleep.
Seize your opportunities.
Let no one talk you out of them.
Limit yourself to no one.
Give yourself to no one.
Keep yourself young and free and do it all.
After that you can worry about love.
We are living in a time of crisis
but we also live in a time of opportunity
There is always an opportunity to be better,
For the time of betterment of self and others
May not come again.
When one gets an opportunity to do something
think less of yourself and more of others
and God will direct your plan He has for you to do.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach
the word-not with wisdom and eloquence lest the
cross of Christ is void of its power."
We must test the opportunity that comes our way
to see if it for me to do.
We must be wise in the way we deal with others
Because that opportunity may not come again.
We must make the most of every opportunity
because the days we live in are evil.
Therefore as we have an opportunity
let us do good to all people
especially to those who are in the household of God.
first time, when you're young
you hardly recognize it
once more, when you're old...
it's larger-than-life...
opportunity knocks twice ~
this time, get it right
When opportunity knocks don’t hesitate
Open the door and celebrate
It may be what you are looking for
How would you know, if you don’t open the door
When opportunity knocks let it in
It may bring you a bashful grin
But if only on one side of the door you abide
How would you know what is on the other side
When opportunity knocks, go in a hurry
Leave your doubt, fear and worry
Be sure and let opportunity in
Because opportunity may never knock again
Uncrowned
kings and queens of madness walk
through halls burning with self confidence.
Nervous incandescent eyes peer down from rafters
unsure how their flesh and bone hosts
will survive visibility.
What do they see
these eyes of ghosts?
In reference frames
made so close
to images of what they know
behind shields of darkness and of doubt.
Drop into the heat
with the kings and queens of madness;
feel the flames sear your skin
as color once more fills your eyes.
Enjoy your walk in the fire
below the rafters.
For cold dark dead
with no shine but smell
will paint itself,
perfectly
over you in time.