Standards within the Heavens
Virtues with honor
Calm waters, but focused
Crystal clear inspiration
The Sun glistens with assurance
Strength enduring
Sea creations refresh through the waters
Treasures deep
Safe keeping below
Boats and swimmers enjoy the cool feel
I am the ocean being ideal
I understand being the ocean
Even the Sea Gods wonder with curious
My waves with convictions and thinking its own
What are they thinking?
Each wave having a message in being caution
Sometimes the waves can propel during a storm
Other times being calm
Through every storm
There is a lighthouse watch
The Heavens create and observe
I am the oceans with vision of horizons
Eyes seeing as far as can be focused
Angles to the shores
Being an ocean
What do you see?
Distance with possibilities beyond the seas and depth of inspiration.
"You are perfect the way you are!" - they said.
Weird, isn't it?
Was I ever perfect,
Or did I simply fit in?
I watched the gardener,
Softly edge the Bonsai into a rounded "masterpiece."
Beautiful, yes -
Sad, too.
It never truly grew.
Is that what perfection means?
Once in a while,
I felt proud - "The woman I am."
But then,
I looked at the girl
I once wanted to be.
Oh -
What a perfect stranger I have become to myself.
is more than a life
"half-lived."
The Australian film
inspires me to dance,
break away from herd
of commonality,
learn the Pasa Doble,
rethink convention,
be me
in an ostentatious way
and remember to laugh
and live
everyday.
"Love is in the air"
by John Paul Young
Let's dance onstage badly
with everyone else
who feels inspired
tonight.
“This is the final warning
for Scott Hastings
and partner
To please leave the floor!”
The game I’m stuck playing
Is not like the rest
My score gets higher
the lower the number gets
I lose every time
I step on the scale
My mind just tells my body
that we’re playing a game
Self care isn’t something I’m lacking
Everyone says it’s what i need
But no matter how much I try
I just don’t feel fulfilled
The game I keep playing
Is one I can’t win
My score keeps getting higher
as I continue to disappear.
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.
From playing in a sunlit glade
We began school to make the grade.
Each year was called a Standard there.
Gone were the days free of care!
Each year was another Standard earned
But did we even remember what we learned?
Some passed easily, others not.
After the 12th year, to move on we were hot!
A Standard is also a banner: of victory or defeat,
To hold on high; to be on your feet.
It also could portray a family or a country's colors
For all to see,
To make that grade, or Standard, successful one should be
That one is an example of going on and on.
It takes a person of courage, daughter or son.
Jesus is our Standard High.
Even without seeing Him, so don't sigh,
For He's very real, divine, human but invincible,
So creative, so credible!
Faith He's given to each; trust Him to show.
Mainly, through your mind will flow;
Your heart heal.
At-home you'll feel.
It becomes easy to forgive and to smile,
To go the "Extra" Kilometer or mile,
Beauty and Perfection know,
Heavenly Standards, Harmony and glow!
Unrealistic expectations are a curse
nobody lives up to our high standards
~ a one-way ticket to disappointment
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 2nd place 2025
You made me Dauntless
Part of me is half full and empty
Like a right-handed person trying to be lefty
Trying to scribble down the chaotic memory
Of the hurt I got from ignoring me totally
I try to break my own rules and standards
‘Cause I thought you’re the ace in a card
I dive too deep into the false hope reward
I just realized that you are a real coward
Late-night talks and calls are useless.
You changed instantly and left me clueless.
I threw away the feelings too effortlessly
It made me confident, braver, and dauntless
I’m fed up with trying to make things keep going
It’s you who stops holding and believing
I’ll never let myself fall again for nothing
‘Cause often looks and words are deceiving
zero tolerance
for stupidity
yet here I am
putting up
with your
shenanigans
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Good Standards
Generous
Courteous
Manners
Meaningful
Respectful
With Balance
Encouragement
No Conflict
Honest
Dependable
Good Standards
Noble
Good Spirited
Patient
Good Morals
Good listener
Positive Compass
Understanding
Open-minded
Don’t take life for granted
Good Samaritan
Angel Reese plays basketball for the Chicago Sky
She talks trash like an overwrought magpie
The media compares her to the great Caitlin Clark
~ though almost all Angel’s shots miss their mark
Tennis star Sinner’s no sinner,
But Phogat is, and no winner,
Sinner’s sans intention,
She should learn a lesson,
Are rules for the First World’s honour?
____________________________
Happenings |19.08.2024| world, today
Poet’s note: The tennis star Sinner was found positive twice for a banned substance. But his was not an intentional crime, and so he is pardoned. Yet Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat was not only disqualified for the final but was stripped of her silver medal she won for being 100 grams in excess weight (a glass of water or urine would account for this difference). Sometimes ‘rules are rules’, and sometimes not so. When suits, one should look for motive or intention! But then, this world is full of double standards.
Double standards is a thing
Judge all the judgments you’ve been judging
And you who calls others “unfair”
Will find it hard to bear
That you are perpetrating victims
Whose thoughts clash with your very dreams
Going and coming around is a real event
And in the wake of the latter you term it “different.”
Scampering for whatever grace you could find
Arguing to the farthest beacon of your mind
It’s a hard and large bite to chew
When you yardstick comes back to haunt you
But also sacred law is too a thing
If a cord be a cord don’t accord it to be a string
Going once, going twice will only go under
Let what goes for the goose go for the gander
Speak it in the air
And act so just and fair
K. Muitherero
Today's standards don't hold the value they use to-our forefathers are rolling in their graves
Oh my god she's so fat,
her stomach has rolls.
And her thighs shake when she walks,
unbelievable that,
someone would comment on someone's folds.
“Her double chin is visible when she talks.”
Eating in front of someone and pray,
pray that they don't judge me
"she probably eats too much" they say
people pass comments as though therapy is free
people judge too fast
only caring about the outside
what people say actually hurts on the inside
and the good moments never last
insecurities overwhelm us
acting like we're fine
and the second we make a fuss
we should "learn to take a joke"
what a stupid hoax
crossing lines
by commenting on others bodies?
no, and I'm not sorry.
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.