On a wing and a prayer
a soldier is shunted
here and there
The wing is his fear
the prayer is sincere
Life hands us lessons
From these we should learn
Unknown and unexpected
Around each and every turn
Good, bad and indifferent
That alone is a surprise
Bringing joy to our hearts
Or tears to our eyes
Life is not always easy
At times completely unfair
We do the best we can
On a wing and a prayer
Celebrate the life you have been blessed with
As it comes and goes so fast
Another unknown and unexpected is
We know not how long it will last!
Automobiles these days are super expensive
And, I find car advertisements rather offensive,
Suggesting my old auto may soon be trash,
They are promising to buy it for loads of cash.
I’m not in a race to keep up with the Joneses
Considering what the interest rate on car loans is,
I’ll keep my jalopy as long as it gets me where,
If sometimes I’m returning on a wing and a prayer.
Written July 9, 2022
The feeling of excitement while taking a walk.
People could feel it too as I was walking by.
Everywhere I went the energy went with me.
Even the traffic was moving like an oiled machine.
But the back of my neck was getting dirty gritty.
Like the time I spent in the "Grandiose Appelona".
It is true that I was a teenager without a clue.
I finally learned how to read between the lines.
Flying on a wing and a prayer when I turned around.
Started to believe in giving a little of something back.
There is a treasure in the people coming together.
For like the falling snow peace can fall on the land!
11/29/2020
Cross the X and blow the ring to make an O
Mother nature guide gentle breeze as you know just where they aim to go
Caress them tenderly as they flow
For the smoke is a fragile piece of my heart dont you know
Look up through grey clouds and take notice in the dove
Get lost in it's tranquil beauty descending from up above
Hope and Faith Grace you in flight come push or shove
Most heavenly message sent on a wing and a prayer of Love
Now see a pretty chickadee
She's playing peak-a-boo limb to limb within a cedar tree
Soaring high as majestic protectors of the skies, how grand to fly it must be
Find spirit of eagle within so you too can be set free
With every fall there comes a rise
The leaves adapt beautifully in warm colors of butterflies
Children giggle crunching leaves as last leaf dies
Trees remain strong as geese flock with fair-weather friends & honk temporary good-byes
If I Ruled The World
Proving souls mettle life elapsed that being in disaccord,
Let us confirm the presence of each other multi-colored,
Give a righteous opportunity for all to justly share,
Equitably, separate terms on a wing and a prayer,
Reinvent a world from disarray also disillusion,
Let all be convinced in a better future, hearts infusion,
Enjoying fashioned comfort together and security,
Truly, rooves o'er heads, bellies well-nourished, lifetime surety,
Laborers lifestyle concludes with an automated new world,
Encountering goodness, nature, others, set in a dreamworld,
Disproving spoils of Earth and that genuine malevolence,
Relieved ills, ensure benevolence, I hope its prevalence.
2020 August 25
*10th Place*
If I Ruled The World
~~Chantelle Anne Cooke
Fear of being afraid of feelings
in fear, feelings
Feelings that tell the truth u try hard to suppress
Causing sleepless nights, no rest,
Stress, a mess
All because u run from what u really want
U can't say it, do it, u can't even think it!
Someone might hear, might hear u dreaming
Wishing on a wing and a prayer
That when you awake they'll be there
And living without them all these years was only a bad dream The coldest nightmare
That haunts u still between here and real
U know it's not real, but still
Even though u know it's not real
You're the happiest you've ever been
Dreaming of what coulda been
Until u wake from this dream back into this nightmare again
Damn, in this life it seems you just can't win
Hit the snooze twice and it starts all over again
Lord, I'm on a wing and a prayer,
And I know you are in control up there.
I feel close to you flying above the clouds below...
Don't give up on me Lord, I have a ways to go!
I must make peace with the dandelions
for I do so enjoy their sunny smiles
my neighbors however are less inclined
to appreciate their delicate wiles
Descendants, it seems, of nomadic need
roots traced to earthly ancient scions
follow their fate – bloom where they land
So I must make peace with the dandelions
Our roots though deep were recently planted
drifting in on a wing and a prayer
that all of the promises on the wind
could all come true if we landed there
Sharing the plight of the rising sirens
I must make peace with the dandelions
John G. Lawless
©5/8/2019
I tried to cage the muse
I tried to cage the silverbird
I tried to hide the puma
I tried to hide the eagle
I tried to hide the art in I
I tried to pen just but a little
The cumulative pressure
The cumulative effect
I almost lost I..
Hitting the ground without a chute
Hitting the ground running
The guy on a wing and a prayer
Jehovah you are Elshaddai
You are My provider
I do now soar unhindered
I always want to soar free
I love the wind on my face
The scribble of mine pen
Gives I unrivaled joy
For art should never be caged
Its akin to stifling out
The very breath of life
Its akin to forfeiting life itself
An artist minus the art
....
Is like a zombie..
No flames of life..
No sparks of love..
An artist free your soul
Heed to your calling
Free thee from the chains
Don't sell thine soul
To an-others path
Roy you are but
A resource beneath
A cloud..
#Liberty Systems
Code 254
Ackmi Luis
Breathe in, breathe out, gasp in the air,
Both feet drumming along on the ground,
She blindly runs from what became hell,
Runs from what she had found,
From years of rage, screaming and hate,
From the torment hidden inside,
She runs on the path to escape from it all,
Doing whatever’s required,
Then her mind slips and tumbles, falls to the edge,
Cascades like a river in air,
It lifts and floats through the mist of the fall,
She flies on a wing and a prayer,
And both of her wings sprout out from her side,
Her mind, now free, takes to flight,
And begins again in a world without hurt,
Now she’s run straight into the light.
We live day by day
On a wing and a prayer
Making it all up as we go along
You can make a plan
But as soon as you do
I can guarantee
Something will go wrong
Short term goals
Are good and work
Have a big picture
Of what you want to achieve
But then you need to live your life intuitively
Because everything in life
Is fluid and changing
Everything we try
Is always in a mix
All that we hope for should be amazing
No good dumbing down all of your dreams
Set the bar high
And set yourself targets
But if it doesn't work
Don't get disheartened
Stay on the front foot
And roll with the changes
Don't get to stressed
Nothing stays the same
And you cannot control this
Live your life intuitively
Remain in your mind free existentially
Don't label or box yourself
Or you will be restricted
Open up your eyes and mind
So you don't become constricted
Live your life intuitively
Roll with the changes
Life is fluidity
Don't go thinking
You've got it all planned out
Life doesn't work like that
Of this there is no doubt.
An incredible journey, a delightful insight,
Performing under the big top,
Flying through air, on a wing and a prayer,
Hanging just like a plumb bob,
And the tent is in black, all lights are on you,
Dressed in your leather costume,
Every eye in the house cradles your frame,
Hoping you don’t fall to your doom,
But you manage to fly, with invisible truth,
You manage to belong in the air,
Growing your wings where wings shouldn’t be,
Holding hands with someone upstairs,
And the crowd, well they don’t believe what they saw,
The crowd you know you’ve deceived,
Because the applause is enormous, bigger than big,
For you, on the Flying Trapeze.
An ingenious device is a basketball net:
Swish, swoosh, swoosh, swish---
Its sweet sound made
From a cager's wish. (A 'cager' is a basketball player)
Close your eyes; let your mind run free,
Picture the ball arching gracefully,
A round, rubber rainbow coursing through the air
Willing its way on a wing and a prayer.
Swish, swoosh, swish, swoosh:
One after another the balls pour on in.
Swoosh, swish, swoosh, swish;
The nets' cords snap,
Cagers high-fives slap.
Swish after swoosh,
Swoosh after swish:
The sweet sound made
From a cager's wish.
Some are smooth, as smooth as a song,
While others are spiked like a boot,
And some are ripe, ready for now,
Ripe as a plump freshly picked fruit.
Some are mounds of a hill full of beauty,
While a few are as flat as a bat,
And a couple, here and there, are all over the shop,
Sort of a wild bric a brac.
Some poke right out for everyone to see,
No user manual needed there,
While others are hidden nowhere to be seen,
Only found on a wing and a prayer.
But all of them make me feel happy and free,
As free as a bird in the sky.
I love every one, each colourful joy,
I love every newly born butterfly.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.