All I want is friends
For people to notice me and accept me for who I truly am
For me to be my authentic self and not push people away for being different
For others to come to me before I go to them
I know sometimes I just want to be the center of attention but sometimes it’s different, sometimes I just want to have people who truly care about me how I care for them
It’s hard to make new friends
to find the right people
the people who have the right values and morals
the people who make you laugh even when they’re not trying
the people who don’t make fun of you for being different
the people who care
I REMEMBER THE LITTLE THINGS
BY ALICE MARAGLIA
2019
I was raised with a set of morals we don't hear much today
things like, "yes mam," "no sir", please and thank you.
Excuse me when we needed to be heard, now all you
get is a push and a shove, no one cares.
Men tipped their hats to women passing by,
"Good Morning" was a standard reply.
Seats on the bus were offered up out of respect
to an elder, a mom to be, or the disabled who cannot see.
Today, there are no moral standards to teach our young,
How are we making America Great again?
Did our political correctness replace those values?
We will never go back to the day it once was.
The Bible was read morning noon and night,
now we have the cell phone, and AI to guide us at night.
Be careful people, you are being invaded by a stranger
who knows not or cares, for the danger ahead is clear.
So I’m forced to take responsibility
For the actions of leaders I never trusted
And if I lack this absurd ability
You’d claim that I am maladjusted
But where were your morals when I suffered
What is your share of responsibility
For my troubles, why didn’t you offer
Your very supportive reliability?
Please don’t worry about to react
We both know the answer, don’t we
You may victimize me just like that
Then accuse me for playing a victim’s ennui
It’s an old tribal song, to shift the blame
To the poor, sending them to fight
I’m responsible for different songs to play
And I do, when the time is right.
Parents mold their children just like a pan to a cake
How ever you're instructed gives your life it's shape
What you're taught as a child you will never forget
Understanding the morals of others...
You will have a fit
Down from your failures to your major accomplishments
Learning responsibility on a job to timely paying your rent
Clueless that your parents were preparing you for life
Now you thank them for teaching you what is right
Times that you felt that they were being hard on you
They we're preparing you to always know what to do
Good thing as parents they didn't slack on the job
Raising you to turn into the most laziest slob
The decisions you make reflects off your childhood
Parents are aware that childhood affects adulthood
Aristotle, doth he opine,
That parrots grow saucy with wine.
I can't help but think
He drove it to drink,
The source of its moral decline.
we know the difference
between right and wrong
we have a conscience
that defines boundaries
and sets the parameters
of our defined integrity
and this draws the confines
ultimately of the way we live
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
As I move through
the layers of grief since the death,
and the comments, opinions and beliefs.
I see myself clearly,
as a person with integrity and ethics,
with character, honor, honesty and morals.
It is safe to,
look within my heart and soul for I hide nothing.
I can express
myself with creativity,
with my writing skills and abilities,
the words fall from my pen.
I am unfolding in beautiful fulfilling ways,
and working on the process of positive change.
And I am willing to forgive all,
willing to let everything go- all the hurt feelings.
moral compass - needle moving erratically
I had to trade another jot,
I had to sell a tittle.
I had to cuz they told me that
I had to give a little.
I had to sit and wonder at
the setting of the sun,
what giving just a little costs
when all is said and done.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
He sits there all day long scaring
The little boys who slip and fall
Like a grown-up boy and daring
One day he fell from the same wall
While making fun of his old friends
None helped him and none gave a call
Learning a lesson, made amends
Not to bother or hurt others
In their bad time or when they're down
Be good and not ruffle feathers
To help and never be a clown
As my lips adhere to another tin,
I forget the morals buried deep within.
Drinking doesn’t relieve my stress —
It turns my brain to an emotional mess.
Aiming for more, but settling for less,
I mutter those fateful words —
“I’m never drinking again…”
Then repeat the process.
Head thick as fog,
Another day — no progress.
Body starts to wither,
Mind begins to regress.
I mutter those fateful words —
“I’m never drinking again…”
Then repeat the process.
But every tin’s a coffin,
Every swallow, a nail;
Each oath I spit
Already set to fail.
The walls close in —
The bottle’s my cell;
Each sip drags me deeper
Into my personal hell.
And when they find me,
Face down in the sink —
Blood in my vomit,
Breath stinking of drink —
Don’t call it an accident,
Don’t soften the lie…
The truth is,
I’ve been killing myself
One can at a time.
The Male of the Species
8/23/2023
Why is it men sneer at women of the night?
They think nothing,nothing of it when they cheat on their wives!
But ‘that woman, they were with, why she has no morals?
This male double standard, oh it makes my blood boil!
A message for men,there are men of the night, too.
Think about that one, before women, you so morally eschew!
Always
There are those who are always humble
And those are arrogant and full of
Who work in the call centres
They are agents or bosses
Each has their own agenda
Either good or bad ever indifferent
Which one are you
Who do you aspire to be?
An honest rep or scoundrel
Brian didn't care for money
He cared for success
For success had a sweet taste
Brian knew what was what
And what he had to do
He was one of the quiet ones
Simply doing his job
Are you like this?
Tell me that you've felt a failure
In doing what was right
While pillows dampen, salty
Amidst the restlessness of night
A wonder, wonders bless the wicked
And the same thing in reverse
Ensure the gnarled vines of virtue
Aren't easily traversed
With what was once a gleaming moral compass
More a burden than a tool
Its rusting ends give rhyme to meaning well
A witty slogan of the fool
The firmest grasp fatigues to loosen
Slipping chains cut like a knife
In vain, try letting go completely
This blessed curse carried for life
As tainted blood drips from your calloused palm
And every orangy link
Try not to smirk upon the splashes
More rewarding than you'd think
know thyself; is your life on the right track
aligned with, refined by, the principles of dharma
refrain, abstain, be kind and be calmer
meditate, seek meaning: find moral momentum
all actions count on this trip to nirvana
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