Long Rewards Poems

Long Rewards Poems. Below are the most popular long Rewards by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Rewards poems by poem length and keyword.


Premium Member Autumns I Once Knew

Autumns I Once Knew                                                                                                                                      Curtis Johnson

It was the sight and sound of low flying planes defoliating the cotton fields.                                                           Autumn was another word for the unpleasant smell of pesticides.

Autumn was the dreadful sights of mules, tractors, trailers, and scales.                                                                     Mules were beasts of burdens, tractors for hauling, trailers for containing,                                                       

and scales for weighing sacks of cotton picked by the hands of humans.                                                                Autumn was another word for the sound of red mechanical cotton pickers.

Autumn was the picture of long sacks filled and stuffed with cotton                                                                                            It was the reminder of laborious and dreadfull afterschool farm labor

Autumn also indicated that we were near the end of a long hot summer.                                                                   The harvest would soon pass, followed by a sense of 'reaping and rewards'

Yes, September was also Autumn when I was a child, but it left so much                                                                    more with which to remember that wasn't beautiful trees and falling leaves.

08172018PoetrySoup
Form: Couplet


What Is Important

It’s not what you own.
It’s who you know…they say,
For things don’t last…they wear out,
Become obsolete, and are laughed at,
And scorned in the flea market show.

Nothing keeps it’s value,
Everything goes the way of the world.
This year’s treasure is soon a relic,
And not valued or heralded.

Estate sales, to me are sad.
All your belongings, neatly placed in a row,
It’s as if they tell a tale,
Of the worth of a life,
And what one valued most…God only knows.

It’s not what you own,
That gives your life worth.
It’s really, truth were known,
Not who you know.

When it’s all over,
And you count the rewards.
It’s who you LOVE…and who LOVES you…
When your time is up,
And you have to go.

NO ONE TAKES ANYTHING AWAY

It was an ordinary funeral,
nothing striking—except the strange restraint of the living.
The coffin, made of somber wood, bore an inscription,
succinct, sincere, almost brutal:
In this world, no one takes anything away.
And just below,
like the advice of an old master to his absent-minded disciple:
Be humble, and thank even your enemies.
Take pleasure, as much as you can, in your passage.

I stood there,
mute, wordless,
my heart suspended at the edge of the abyss,
and I reflected.
On those days we treat as possessions,
as if time obeyed our will.
On those objects we hoard—
when we fear we might mean nothing.
On those grudges we nurture
like cherished treasures.
On that “tomorrow” we distrust,
on the tenderness we muzzle,
on the forgiveness we ration
as if it were scarce currency.
On the life we neglect
in the name of a later no clause has ever guaranteed.

But the hour comes—inevitably—
when all is left behind.
What we thought we owned fades into shadow.
What we managed to give might endure.
A hand extended.
A gentle memory lodged in another’s mind.
Life is not measured by rewards.
It is felt in the trace of sincere impulses.

So live with integrity, with heart.
Love without contract or condition.
Laugh even if the order of the world wavers.
Weep if your soul overflows with pain.
Forgive without expecting anything in return.
And above all,
do not postpone
what, today,
might make life vibrate.

For that evening will come
when the dawn no longer breaks.
And on that day,
no one—
I say it plain—
takes anything away.

Premium Member Hippie Hair

How lucky can one man be
To have the love and friendship
Of so many sweet adorable people
Here on the Soup... male and female
It's like a love-in from the sixties
Minus the beads and hippie hair
(Well I'm supposing!)
Those were wild, free spirited days
Making love, NOT war
I was newly married back then... 1957
Busy raising three young kiddies
And struggling to make ends meet
My rewards though were much greater
With 3 super kids, a gorgeous wife and a new career
The closest I got to becoming a hippie
Was letting my hair grow long (shoulder length)
And sporting a beard
Which, believe it or not, I still have today
Those were difficult times back then
But oh so rewarding... ahhh memories!

Premium Member HEART THAT BELIEVES GOD WHO REMEMBERS AND HEARKENS TO OUR PRAYER

January 10 Heart for God Bible Meditations Based on Genesis 30-31

Key Verse – Genesis 30:22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

HEART THAT BELIEVES GOD WHO REMEMBERS AND HEARKENS TO OUR PRAYER

We believe that God remembers us, hearkening to our heart’s plea
Indeed, blessing us by His multiplying graciousness so free
And granting us inheritance along heavenly glee 
That speaks of His greatness our faith can see.

We believe that God remembers us, hearkening to our heart’s despair
Indeed, soothing us in with His compassionate care
And providing for us along His supply-welfare 
That highlights His love of comforting stare.

We believe that God remembers us, hearkening to our heart’s prayer for His favour
Indeed, proving us to obey Him with delighted fervour
And inspiring us along His truth’s light in our stewardship endeavour
That radiates through His approval of divine savour.

We believe that God remembers us, hearkening to our heart’s desire
Indeed, making us fulfill our vows to do our best by His fire
And helping us labour in His work until we retire
That earns grand rewards exceeding cost of precious sapphire. 

We believe that God remembers us, hearkening to our heart’s fulfillment
Indeed, bringing us to His feast of kindness-endearment
And cherishing us with His caring enrichment
That asserts His love for our eternal settlement.

We believe that God remembers us, hearkening to our heart’s satisfaction
Indee, guarding us from envy-propped destruction
And protecting us with His preserving sanctification
That declares His assured salvation.

We believe that God remembers us, hearkening to our heart’s strengthening
Indeed, setting us toward faith-increasing and patience-lengthening
And letting us learn by experience that He answers our need’s pining
That reinforces His compassion midst His pardoning.

January 10, 2026


The Unknown Soldiers of Jesus Christ

Unknown soldier
You are cherished and loved
Unknown believer
You are never forgotten
Unknown man and woman
You are deeply loved

On earth some of us are not known
But in the Kingdom of God we are all known 
There are times many of us are alone in our faith
But Jesus is always with us

Unknown soldier
You are cherished and loved
Unknown believer
You are never forgotten
Unknown man and woman
You are deeply loved

It is clear that the eyes of the Lord are on us at all times
We break the cycle of fear because he cares
And prepares the fabric of our growth as
We interact with the world because 
The Spirit of God is in all places
By the Grace of God, we move forward
By His Name He rewards us faithful soldier of Jesus Christ
© Mark Frank  Create an image from this poem.

The Apple Grove

3:56 PM  18 Nov 2014

I visit the apple grove I tended with love so long ago
I learned so much about life, love, patience and taking it slow

The grove was my uncles and he showed me one day how to trim
He used a ladder but I in my youth would climb from limb to limb

Carefully choosing which limbs were crowding and which were dieing
I clipped or sawed them off close but not to close as I grew strong from the climbing

Shaping the trees so the good limbs had room to grow
Inspecting the leaves for disease and bugs like a doctors exam from head to toe

The fall breeze blowing putting the trees to sleep
Preparing them for the cold and the snow so deep

My rewards were good apples we picked before fall
To be canned, frozen or packed in wood chips and enjoyed by us all

The grove is long gone cut by someone who didn't know
But the lessons of life are part of my heart and my smile as I grow

So I visit the apple grove in my memories
Thanks to you my Uncle steve
Form: Rhyme

Memories Adorn My Heart

"Fragments and crumbs of life, all the little pieces"
                                              John Ruskin, 1853



A collage of memories adorn the walls of my heart.
Some appear and bring a smile, the worthwhile ones
that shine like faceted diamonds in the midnight sky.
Indelible are my visions of births, marriage and days 
when life offered more rewards than I felt I deserved.

But there are also deaths; those jagged shards, 
that cut me like sharpened spears of broken glass.
They're bitter weapons that cause me pain 
with each remembered slash that opened a new wound.
Oh, such strife, anguish, and tidal waves
of regrets that leave me shipwrecked and alone.

There are snippets and scraps of our wedding day,
shrouded and shadowed now... 
Those pictures are finger worn, edges bent
from turning them often, when I feel forlorn
and miss your arms around me
.
Love comes without safeguards and guarantees
so please, dear heart, 
don't bring those echoes of the past to mind.
I've come to grips with my brokenness
until moonlight reminds me of what used to be.
In that moment I'm wistful and somber
stumbling in the darkness...
trying to climb from the gloom of a deep abyss.


September 1, 2020
All The Little Pieces Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France

Premium Member Crossing the Line

Crossing The Line
David J Walker

There is a line and
There was a time 
when they were
Kids like us
Singing clapping praying eating sleeping waiting
Waiting 
	Waiting	
		Waiting
For whatever comes 
In the coming day
Waiting 
	Praying
		 Smiling
Saying
The things they thought they were saying
50 years before and
A million tears before 
The tapestry so clear before 
It blurred 

	Maybe it burned in a fire 
With those lost important papers and pictures 

The property of the proprietor 
posting rewards
For their return 

But they are gone forever

There was a time when they were
Hopeful for a reward-full 
Life 
         Faith 
                  Charity 
Man and wife
And children who would remember
As they move beyond 
This daily strive

There is a line
That cannot be crossed 
Before its time

Premium Member pre-crastinate

There’s an old joke, “Procrastinate now, because
the sooner you fall behind, the longer you’ll have to catch up.”
Ha ha.

While a lot of students around here, even the good ones,  
are procrastinators, I’m a diagnosed pre-crastinator.
I obsess over syllabuses and start things immediately.
I've got rough drafts of things due three months from now.
I’m a planner. Leisure time makes me itch.

I say that to say this, I’m reaping my rewards.
There’s a palpable layer of fret in the air.
Everyone's (the seniors) talking about their theses,
and how they need to start it—first thing yesterday.
I just listen, playing Flappy Bird on my phone, because I’m done.

When my professor handed my thesis paper back the other day,
he said, “This is good.” At first, I was delighted, quietly rocking it inside.
Then I floundered, becoming somewhat indignant. Why’d he sound surprised? Because I handed it in a little (80 days) early?
But soon enough, I was back to happiness.
I’ll have to defend it one day, but I’ll go first, wait and see.

Shall we wax poetic?

I’m like the sea, always restless
and I enjoy the flavor of honest effort.
I dub snark, and the little, jealous glances,
I blunt them with chey smiles, while thinking,
I’ll row my boat, and you row yours—just a little slower.’

Let them whisper me freakish
though I win a thousand crowns,
the real pleasure lies in my gun slinger’s sang-froid,
to finish the commission first and be the best.
.
.
Songs for this:
Let Me Down Easy by Gang of Youths
Let Me Go by CAKE

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