Best Workload Poems
To handle dreadful time, to cherish it
although I have no gall for such-
past the ennui of night’s workload,
this jive which I embrace relentlessly
fizzles like soapsuds in my nails;
a voice quelled with the dirt of blue mood…
How lethargy chokes me, its tar roasting
my senses humid as air, more apt for birds,
that I cruise along an alley where piano tunes
with acoustic strings invite a certain madness--
the scent of rhythm and blues perks
ached limbs, gradually tapping a free
movement pleading abandon…cheeks lighten,
enthralled by an opulence of notes;
till I scream, yes, time, though you're a dreadful bane,
I will hold you wildly, once again.
1/6/2018
For Craig Cornish: Blue Contest
Natural
I remember my dad, oh, he was a fine man, and he loved my mom so, they
loved all the children so much. I adored mom's touch and her sweet hugs each
day. We had a cat or six and we got lots of licks, sometimes they ran from us
but gran always held one. We really loved to cook pies, they could win a prize.
Mom ... me in the garden, the workload no burden, the flowers were divine
dad said they were sublime. Gran liked her rocking chair, rock ... rock without
a care. I have good memories ... our house was vintage old. To a park we strolled. I skated on a hill, my skates went to goodwill. Oh, my young years
were good, with a happy childhood !
Visual
I remember my dad,
oh, he was a fine man,
and he loved my mom so,
7 they loved all the children so much.
5 I adored mom's touch
and her sweet hugs each day.
We had a cat or six
and we got lots of licks,
7 sometimes they ran from us but
5 gran always held one.
7 We really loved to cook pies,
5 they could win a prize.
Mom ... me in the garden,
the workload no burden,
the flowers were divine,
dad said they were sublime.
Gran liked her rocking chair,
rock ... rock without a care.
I have good memories,
7 our house was vintage old
5 To a park we strolled.
I skated on a hill,
my skates went to goodwill.
Oh, my young years were good,
with a happy childhood !
Pissed off and tired, I’m not paid enough
for twenty hour days and all of this stuff.
The phone starts at seven when things have gone wrong
at three in the morning still singing their song.
Planning, correcting, resolving all things
that being in charge of our engineers brings.
Not I don’t like it, there’s no doubt I do,
it’s just I get tired when working right through.
I’ve made a few changes to soften the load
of the people whose workload I keep in my fold.
It’s early days yet and I hope I can see
the way to make changes that benefit me.
My boss is my conscience, my vision my drive,
the way I move forward, the reason I strive
is to find better ways within our Company
to help people have fun when they’re working for me.
Now money’s the God that rules Company law,
with profit the deity held up in awe.
I have to bow down to their idol I know
but there’s differing ways our devotion to show.
You can sacrifice workers, then sell your own soul
to the devil who claims all of the gold
or promise him fortunes with far more to gain
if we help all the staff to live absent from pain.
Convincing directors that following me
will help feed their need for more money to see
is an art I have mastered with skill in my years
while helping employees shed some of their fears.
Although I’m successful in feeding their greed,
the thing I am glad of is that I succeed
in making folks lives a bit better than when
they were virtual slaves to their master's pure whim.
But alas I have not reached the point where I may
reduce all the hours that I work every day.
Now this I must make my own personal goal
so I too can have fun and some time for my soul.
Ivor G Davies
yogi under the banyan tree
yogi under the bodhi tree
bikku under the banyan tree
waiting for release
bikku in blissful nibbhana
yogi in extinguishing moksha
Penniless poet under the tenement roof
Jazz organist under the pavement sky
Struggling novelist under the Riviera blue
Russian ballerina under the American umbrella
Apprentice painter under the Sistine Chapel
Sculptor Underground
waiting for the agent’s call
burning Anne Frank manuscripts in an air-raid fire
singular melodies drowned in the descending drone
Kafka writing without a morrow
van Gogh dabbing his tormented palette under the Arles sun
Sartre turning the Nobel Prize down for teenage girls
Siddhartha abandoning his body’s palace for the people’s pain
the common man unable to abandon his workload family
bikku under the bodhi tree
his body shrivelled under the saffron robe
his begging bowl filled by karma-earning hands
the last trichinosis-filled moksha meal
bikku rising on a thousand-petalled flower
bikku piercing through the cakras’ splendrous colours
bikku on a burning pyre
©T.Wignesan 1992
April 29, 1997
Paris
[from the collection : longhand notes (a binding of poems), 1999]
America
Well you should have seen turkey Sal
She fills herself with packs of Pall Mall
And not to forget about Coonskin-Cap Jack
Always a-travelling with a riffle on his back
The greatest thing a man can see
Is the vast environment of Tennessee
But I can't state that myself-
I love all of the country
America,
great plains and tall pines
Deep blue lakes and mountain peaks
High water and deep coal mines
Country houses and dense streets
I see a horse grazing on the prairie
And begin to think about the heritage
What Westward-bound means
And what is, in fact, genuine
But it is time for greetings,
the time to thank
For what the harvest brought,
what we got from the land
America,
fifty-states of well-being
Some territories far removed
Beauty emerges for all the seeing
Places warm, places cool
The founding fathers, I respect so much
For they stood up for liberty and independence
Washington, Franklin, Paul Revere
As I am reading Thomas Payne's 'Common Sense'
So if I'll set foot on American soil one day
I'll be proud of the way I have come
Because in essence, Americans are the same as me
Only, they know the true meaning of freedom
America,
Lush visions of crippled desire
Brought to me by endless visons
Only connected by the telephone wire
The communicative prison
What the future will bring is uncertain
But this nation will stand the test of time
Greatness doesn’t have to be restored;
Greatness is merely a state of mind
So come now, and share a thought
Choose your leaders wisely and be assured
That whoever will become President
Will do what he/she should
The advertising man looks down on his desk
And finds ads from the archives
It says: ‘1958, Lester and Grove Inc.’
He gets a glass of Bourbon
Does he represent America?
The heavy workload, the tired workhorses
The freedom of working is no freedom at all
But it is far better than them communist dogs
America,
Deserts and far stretched woods
A fire in my heart, a warm embrace
The sunset gives a certain mood
To a man on a wild-goose chase.
TEAM OF CHAMPIONS ENDURING
"When faced with obstacles, failure is imminent, seek opportunities to succeed" - Floyd Neal
Team of Champions Enduring
we started with differing perspectives,
anticipating a perceived failure,
accepting the opportunity to excel.
Teamwork makes the dream work,
the team focused on its responsibilities,
with an assurance that the workload wasn't a liability
some days were tough,
but the team never surrendered to the challenge
Moving Forward Together, we shared the success
collaborative achievements were recognized with finess
Team of Champions Enduring
faced with obstacles and shortfalls,
when the odds are against you, don't
throw in the towel, use your creative mind.
When life serves you lemons, make lemonade
which accentuated our ability to succeed,
endurance is the key to longevity
inner reflection is the answer
Team of Champions Enduring
we refused to be defeated,
never giving up, yet continuing to strive for completeness.
Commitment is a foundational anchor
working for the common good
being a part of something larger than ourselves
the team rose to the occasion
Team of Champions Enduring, we are family
Upon the mighty spot called Golgotha was a most vicious army of ants. They were the hardest worker ants you would ever want to run into, but they had one problem. They all wanted to be the top ant and they kept bickering to reach the top so that they could get all the Queen’s attention. They fought and they fought and they worked and they worked simply trying to attain a higher status than the others. Soon the queen ant came to visit her colony one day and to assess the progress on this mighty project. She stood at the base of the ant hill and just began shaking her head in disgust. “Why oh why are they torturing each other in this way?” she thought. “Why are they trying to compete with each other? Surely they understand that they all receive the same prize and that is to live with me in my colony!”
The queen ant thought long and hard about the dilemma of the competitiveness of her ants. She decided to make a formal decree. So she gathered all the worker ants together and tried to impose rules of civility. She also attempted to create an atmosphere of harmony. She informed the ants that the workload is to be shared. She informed the ants that they were no longer allowed to compete with one another, but to work as one body. She wanted to see harmony among the ant colony and no ant should be greater than another.
The ant colony agreed to these new set of rules. They agreed to be one body with the Queen Ant being the head of the body. She delivered the orders and they all humbly obeyed. She gave each of them special tasks and special gifts along the way. The ant colony flourished and the ants lived in harmony forevermore.
What is the moral of this story you might ask? The moral of the story is that within the kingdom of God there is no one greater than another. In the kingdom of God there are no giant ants or any one greater than God. We are all called to work alongside each other in harmony and get the job done at any cost.
Thank you, Jesus.
Written by Gwendolen Rix
1-10-15
Romans 12:5
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
the arguments and the spittle
they are our muscle
the curse words and the raw harshness
they are our multivitamins
the accusations and the confirmations
they are our truth serums
the holding on and the letting go
they are our inspiration to work
the laughter that we share
the positive memories we declare
the forward movement with the freshness of a spare
the quality time now handled with thorough care
building blocks are heavy
cinder blocks are heavy
roadblocks are challenging
around the block is challenging
the doghouse and the worn sofa
inspires contemplation and marination
the circle drives and the cooloff walks
inspires strategy sessions and blueprint brainstorms
the attention deposits and the attention withdrawals
inspires infinite lessons and next time remembrances
the long talks and the informative conversations
inspires the next day and the next workload
simple assembly still takes time
simple maintenance still takes time
the screw and the screwdriver can still cause callouses
the hammer and the nail can still cause callouses
however and nevertheless, it all can never go wrong
as long as God is the Foundation on which the Bond stands strong....
Asbestos Pudding
Here have I an ethereal belly
And, before me, asbestos jelly!
(In sly reference to College workload of assignments as inspired by mountains whose bedrock is endowed with asbestos mineral))
JM
22nd Feb’ 2014
I was compelled by a strong desire to be a nurse when I was a child. My parents and grandparents told me what nurses do and how they helped people. I was totally beguiled.
My parents painted a picture in my mind of nurses being angelic and noble people. Ones who had answered a call. Nurses give up their Sundays to care for patients. For, it is a calling that is of higher priority than congregating in a building with a steeple.
I have prayed for my patients at times when I had an overwhelming workload or was exhausted from sixteen hour shifts. I have often wondered how I managed to care for such a volume of patients without having dire consequences. Over the years, I have personally witnessed miracles and divine gifts.
Now, I have been a nurse for over thirty years. I have questioned my choice at times because of various obstacles, such as, high patient to nurse ratios and excessive paperwork that take away from time spent with patients. I have had to remind myself of why I was on this people helping mission. And I have always made a decision to stay on course with my virtuous peers.
It is because I’m colored bright red
that I was chosen for their homestead.
Initially, I was quite well tended
but such care eventually ended.
Sure, their attention remains constant
but it's rarely from a cleaning solvent.
I love a scrubbing; I always want it.
My service is constantly required ...
clearly, it will be until I’m expired.
Hot, cold, old, fresh, mild or bold –
my people lack any quality control.
Despite my ceaseless working roll,
they fuss at me when I overflow.
Secretly, I enjoy their anxiety ohs.
Sometimes they argue if I’m found low
or interrupt me if they feel I’m slow.
They also share their genuine relief
when they find my service complete.
You may think filth and endless workload
have me sitting on complaint overload,
but won't once you chat with their commode.
It’s been too long since you went away.
Now nights are long, and days are gray.
Tears too frequent and embraces missed,
The sound of your voice and your tender kiss.
Your empty seat at the dinner table
Leaves us unbalanced, and life unstable.
When you are gone, all is diminished
The workload is hard and much unfinished.
But oh, how the joy and gratitude flows
When you come into sight and my heart explodes!
I discover how great and surpassing our love
When I see you again, we are hand in glove.
Every time you return, the house is reborn
The family is whole and there’s no place to mourn.
There is no replacement, no other can take
The place that you hold and the difference you make.
All I ask is: "Come home your place is here."
Stay with us forever and keep us near.
We value your sacrifice, service and more
Just be sure to come home and darken our door.
One day at noon, a shadow fell to the earth and announced that he was God's
chronicler and that he had to report important events to The Master.
All day he followed people around until by dark he was feeling faint.
What if instead of me following everyone around, people could just decide what
was important and make their own reports to God?
He made a petition to see the King of the Universes and humbly told Him the
plan.
Our Creator God knew all but He listened politely to the shadow.
I gave you the assignment to see how you would carry it out. You were diligent to
the point of exhaustion and then you got creative and started thinking of
delegating and sharing the workload and making people responsible for their
own memories. Good Job!
You have earned your Brain.
The shadow was ecstatic, a large light bulb was given to him and he shadowed
everyone who came into his presence. Soon he was tired again. He decided to
rest and let the light bulb be bright at certain times and other times to rest. This
was a sign that he had mastered the concept of being restored and revived.
The word is most commonly used,
Mental agony and headaches with which it is diffused.
Starting from small kids to the old and aged,
Everyone complains of this as the root of unhappiness,
God knows eventually infants will possess this, I am afraid.
"Mom, too much of homework. I can't sit anymore!",
"Sit back to work and get top marks", she says with anger instead of adore.
"Taxes are increasing with huge rates of interest"
Workload and tensions, loans and apprehensions all on the crest.
I feel, how can one work with complete peace of mind,
When harmony, love and care are so difficult to grope and find.
No effects come on taking homeopathic remedies, I believe.
I think, anger, hatred for work and panick are components which need to be sieved.
Look out for role models like Bill Gates, Indira Nooyi and Mark Zuckerberg,
Passion for work and dedication do they possess,
Procrastination of work and short temper do they curb.
Now will you ask, "How do I ditch this tension of mine?",
Talk to people you trust, listen to some music and enjoy your work; eventually things will turn fine.
Dear fellow people, remember to be patient and to follow your passion,
I guarantee you will sew up your agony and tension.
Have faith in yourself- and before that, God.
Take intervals and there's no requirement to be angry and hot.
Don't get pushed by negative people around you,
Be effervesce and stop fights to brew.
Be happy and positive
Hold calmness and joy in your captive.
Whether the work-load is manual or high-tech exercises;
Whether it taxes our brain, leaving us without answers;
Or dirties our entire body with dirt, dust, and grease;
Whether the tasks stress our emotions to the max:
Or compel us to take prescription pills to relax;
We all labor so that we may reach a point of rest and ease.
This Labor Day, I am inspired to consider One who has already
labored on our behalf and pointed us to the entryway of eternal
rest. The workload of laws, rules, and regulations; the religious
taskmasters of do's and don'ts have been nullified and set aside.
Christ has taken our laborious job on the 'work your way to heaven
train' and set us free from all the guilt, shame, and pain.
So, on this Labor Day holiday, if not a Christian, consider the
possibilities. If a Christian, meditate on the reality of One taking
away all of the heavy lifting that has been driving and promising us
much but yielding only losses and no gains. Consider Jesus who says,
"Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest". * May we cease from spiritual labor, and enter His Rest. Happy Labor Day.
090123PS
*Matthew 11:28