When you’re down in the dumps
And life’s giving you lumps,
It’s so nice to have lunch with a friend;
For occasional slumps,
Like a log’s many bumps,
Make it hard with a smile to pretend
All is dandy and fine.
Sometimes problems combine
With the natural ways that you cope
And your pal throws a line,
Which you take as a sign
That you’re not at the end of your rope.
So you sit and you eat,
Which itself is a treat,
And compare what’s been driving you nuts.
Though you do not compete,
Each admits to defeat
By not climbing up out of your ruts.
Still, a heaviness lifts,
One of friendship’s best gifts,
(Which can also take place on the phone).
Though the stuff that resists
Cheering up still exists,
You, at least, feel a lot less alone.
i didn’t think it was bad,
till i’m sat in bed
flipping through my pictures,
wishing i was thinner.
i catch myself clicking edit
then scrolling the options,
moving the dial further and further back
until there’s almost nothing left.
i would always hate on girls,
the ones that hated themselves
until i realised i turned into what
i swore i’d never be,
pointing out flaws no one else even sees.
and i forgot how to just exist
without editing the evidence.
when no one’s watching, i am.
i watch myself
take that extra bite
regret that dessert
body check every mirror
but from the outside
no one sees me
they don’t know me
only i know me
myself
the imperfect image people see so perfectly on the outside
Neighbor's kids, groomed and manicured
like a well-kept lawn
Greet their parents joyfully
smiles, hugs, a beaming ‘Good morn’
Not that we’re jealous, not in the least
as we struggle to get ours out of bed
By the time they’ve rejected breakfast
My wife and I are half-dead…
Yet patience, patience, patience
wins the day
For they will surely grow out of it ~
please God, before we’re old and gray
Death is not what you realize
lt is lighter than a leaf...
As long as life can be
heavier than a mountain...
Shall I forget my asking a brother:
“Who of The Two has A Much Taller Order?”
And Dairy Hand mishandled An Udder,
For round spinning to watch Close Adder…
Martin Luther and Nelson Mandela,
If they were Fidelis - Fidelia,
Then Stark Crudity of South Africa
Matched Mixed Decency of America
And True killers, sometimes reasonable,
Same as Searching Eyes for The Treasonable;
Or would one Some Healthy Type Writer
Praise like Zealous Breathless Writer?
More air outside The Cell for Martins,
Nelson in Dark Prison with Batons.
Martin Luther could time find for Quotes,
Nelson Mandela for The Word that floats...
And one had had A Far-Too-Funny Wife
That drew a picture of Another Strife,
The bizarre assembling for journalists;
For her Cosmetics the longest lists...
There always is some First Among Equals:
The same family but Yells aren’t Squalls…
Silence is, a noble
lifetime counselor...
That conduct us to elaborate...
Noise ,
Is a braggart that
it just annoys... !
Are you comparing me?
To the others before me
The others in your life
Ex-girlfriends, ex-lovers, ex-wife?
How did I do?
Did I surprise you?
When I showed another side
One you never knew
There are other sides of me I do hide
You need to peel them back layer by layer
There’s no better compliment
That you can pay her
Than by comparing her
To those in your past
But while you are accessing
I am guessing
That is why I asked
Who Are you comparing me to?
Legs are faster
than feet...
Feet fastest
than shoes...
We are that react
slowly in life.... !
No matter how wonderful your writing is
Someone else will say it better with a pen that is more magical
Sometimes with poetry, other times with prose
To compare your missive to theirs is to turn your poem into a dust rag.
It could get moldy and dank, and stinky; you might elect to throw it into a ditch.
Whether or not she continues to survive and hold her head up with pride is up to you. Remember how proud you were of her yesterday?
Let's go back to that.
This year 2021 seems so very hard
with covid and all its limited implications
but it's worth comparing centuries before
five hundred years before was no celebration
In comparing all these 500 years ago
when it was a world so different from today
this was what Europe then was like
even U.S. hadn't been brought into play
During the 1500s there were no basics
no sewer system, central heating, water supply
refrigeration, antibiotics, penicillin or surgery
in our day not having these we would die
As well as no water heater or water
also, ballpoint pen, typewriter, pc was none
it beggars belief what life was like
life was harsh certainly not much fun
People in that day would've been so poor
struggling would have been a daily chore
so be thankful we're not still back then
despite covid we're still able to roar!
Poetry contests. How ridiculous. Silly even. It is like comparing:
dogs with underarms,
underarms with toothbrushes,
toothbrushes with giraffes,
giraffes with garden parties,
garden parties with throw pillows,
throw pillows with coffee cups,
coffee cups with light switches,
light switches with spitballs,
spitballs with cinnamon buns,
cinnamon buns with alligators,
alligators with rubies,
rubies with motorcycles,
motorcycles with sumo wrestlers,
sumo wrestlers with bubble gum,
bubble gum with swimming pools,
swimming pools with rabid skunks,
rabid skunks with toothaches,
toothaches with garter belts,
garter belts with police officers,
police officers with dinosaurs,
dinosaurs with sauce pans,
sauce pans with an art show,
an art show with a pumpkin pie,
a pumpkin pie with a speedboat,
a speed boat with a stepmother,
a stepmother with another step mother.
Poetry contests are silly.
Comparing Clarity with Disparity and Gravity
With some things we must compare clarity,
As it always does and determine disparity;;
Similarity lacking;
Could be cracking,
Assimilated with variable that is gravity.
Parity has to do with a woman's neonatal
condition and the ability of a variable to
agree with others and be correlated.
Jim Horn
This has a high probability that it has
been completely over your head.
Comparing to your heart,
Diamond and all gems are minors!
Stars in the sky of your mind.
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
Dr. Seuss
Comparing
A young man stood next to a man who was much taller.
He began to feel lesser; so very much smaller.
Never of concern before;
His inches above the floor.
The next day he stood by a man much shorter than he.
How proud he felt when beyond his head he did see.
The following day he walked over to a man his own size.
This other man was one who was known to be wise.
The young fellow stood up on his toes,
But shortly after, back down he goes!
He said to the man, “Man so wise, to my surprise,
We both seem to be the same size.
How can you look up towards me or me to you?”
He pointed to the top of the young man’s head and said,
“To yourself be fair;
There was no problem until you put it there.”
Then, he quickly and concisely stated,
“There is no measure by which a man can be rated.”
Barbara Campbell
08/07/15
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