If you can muster up your heart and soul and energy
To stay with you long after they’d normally be gone
And so keep writing when it seems there’s nothing in you
Except sheer willpower that keeps you hanging on;
If you can interact with your fellow poets and keep your virtue,
Or experience setbacks and not lose your humanity;
If you seldom if ever place in the top ten
Yet continue running shunning pride and vanity;
If you can finish each unforgiving marathon mile
With determination to keep running till the end—
Yours will be the glorious satisfaction of having finished
And—what’s more—you’ll be a poet marathoner, my friend!
Four thoughtful lines from Rudyard’s pen
Are still so fresh and new
I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are what and why and when
And how and where and who
What lies in wait as lives unfold
One simply cannot tell
Why worry what the futures hold
It’s not a magic spell
When to push forward and be bold
Or just ponder and dwell
How to learn from lessons of old
But myths one must dispel
Where to find those moments of gold
Avoiding living hell
Who to rely on manyfold
Not those of just a shell
Addressing these pillars of life
Is a hard thing to do
It helps tackle troubles and strife
So positives ensue
Quote from Rudyard Kipling’s poem “I Keep Six Honest Serving Men” from ‘Just So Stories’, 1902.
jungle book
the man who would be king
gunga din
captain courageous
Kipling’s work appealed to children
an innovator in art of short tory
free mason
warned against Nazi Germany
Rudyard Kiplng 'The English Flag'
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English poet Rudyrd Kiplng
'My Son Jack' a WWI ode did bring
Alsi known for for the poem 'If'
in a simple style never stiff
I
Think - but don't make THINKING "your aim" -
"Don't look too good ... or lose common touch"
I learned from past masters, one name
Is Kipling. Khalil Gibran. Thanks. Much!
II
He called defeat his "bold companion,"
To be understood "is to be leveled," without
"Defeat, My Defeat," he owned loss & gain;
Life & death. Prepared to dig graves within
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