Pride it is said goes before a fall
A fall may not be fatal
One good fall could be a blessing in disguise
For It could signal a new beginning
It could portend a second chance
It could also be a learning phase
When you skip and fall
As mortals sometimes do
Take stock of the pitfalls
Get right up on your feet
And be on the march again!
Close your eyes.
Know that you are strong.
You are here on earth to be tested
and how you react to your challenges
is the true measure of a man.
You don't let obstacles crush you.
You deal with them as they come at you.
You are the captain of your life
and your ship is sailing through
turbulent seas these days.
Stay focused. Ride the storm.
Know that this too shall pass.
The sun is around the corner.
If not around the next bend,
it is definitely out there
beyond this squall
that cannot last forever.
And when the storm calms down
you'll take stock of the damage
and deal with it on the spot.
You'll make things better.
You'll make them right again.
Envision the life you want
and you'll find a way to get there.
You are captain of your journey
and the milestones along the way
are but the measure of a man.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
No sailor of seas on a long journey,
Nor gold coffers, just words of poetry,
Yet, precious nuggets from the depths of sea.
Gone to explore as a graying old man,
O rudderless with no more than a pen,
And ready to return with empty can.
Ye have explored single minded till now,
And find it fruitless to take stock of wow
Bare of brickbats—a rule somehow to bow.
Shallow praises, if not hollow, of pen,
On a dunghill as if crackles stray hen,
Shrill, vague voices that few care to listen.
Cheer up, ye chase no goal-pointed measure,
Passing an idle time, nor tame leisure,
Let your pen toil for spirit’s sole pleasure.
_____________________________________
Tercet |01.05.2024| poet, introspection
Poet’s note: In an age when scores of things vie for people’s attention, when nothing succeeds unless promoted and marketed well, a pen ponders. The poem is classified as ‘Other’, but it should be called a ‘Tercet’.
You must get back up on your feet after you
slip & take a fall
Much can be learned while on the ground that
helps the soul to evolve
Search for the meaning of the fall to help
avoid another slip
Take stock of the acts along the way & then
proceed to flip the script
Internalize the little things that help you grow as
you can turn pain into power
Eat whatever life serves to you on a platter
even if it's meant to devour
Learn to do better if you can as knowledge is
the way to steady growth
Sometimes we have to fall to see we're slipping
but you can learn from them both
Take stock of whats truly important
Open your heart and eyes
Don’t bicker and sweat the small
Just take stock and prioritise
Injustice runs rife on our earth
Wars, loss, human cries
Despicable acts of cruelty
Just take stock and prioritise
Put your energy into what truly matters
Be compassionate, kind, wise
Focus on being positive
Just take stock and prioritise
In the big picture of life
Let go or ignore small differences that arise
Be the bigger and better person
Just take stock and prioritise
If one-upperence is that important to you
Take a good look at yourself here applies
Give our world, people in need your attention
Just take stock and prioritise!
On life's journeys do we stop to reflect
take stock of where we have been
Asking pointed questions helps us select
a path forward to avoid taint of sin
Where have we been? Where are we going?
To Whom will we report in the end?
In order to reap, we have to keep sowing
Lovingly, our gardens to tend
Used to think that happiness
Was contingent upon striving
If only we can obtain ______
Then we’ll really start thriving
Leads us to chasing our tail
Continually stuck in high gear
Yet there's a path to clear the air
To make the grasping disappear
Take stock of what we have now
Notice the pieces are already in place
To invite happiness to our doorstep
If we embrace today and end the chase
Death comes to all, including the passing of time
Encapsulated within are lessons and memories
Some are best forgotten that we can learn from
Only if we are willing to learn we may understand
Leaving things as they were cannot keep going on
As we will keep making the same mistakes again
Time to take stock of what we truly want to leave
Is the memories that tomorrow generation knows
Opportunities are bountiful from learning rightly
Nothing can't be undone if there is still the time
Only we can now have the impact of tomorrow's
Free for our future generations to keep moving
Tomorrow, it may not be as bright as it was today
It is still an opportunity for us to make a change
Memories will also change our past mistakes
Even when time is finally over for each one of us
With bowed heads and fervent prayer
we shed our tears with broken hearts
in memory of those no longer here,
those memories are now set far apart.
Names listed on the TV screen
the familiar ones heard from another century,
Benedict and Barbara Walters,
other famous names upon the altar,
Unfamiliar names are forgotten yet last
pushed back into our past
the heroes, saints, and sinners once cast;
these then there are the names often unheard,
familiar but unknown to the public lives interred
by family, friends, and the dearly beloved
who revealed the truths in life discovered
by the children and pictures that remain
and we take stock of all we've lost and all we've gained,
holding on tight to their legacies and their names.
I saw a man standing by the road
He was bedraggled and beaten down,
I passed him by, afraid to share my empty seat
And thought how sad we have come to this
In our self-satisfied want for nothing,
Afraid, because we hear horror stories
About those who have helped strangers,
Denying ourselves the opportunity to bless.
And, thinking of him, I must confess
Our modern age is filled with many dangers,
But we need to take stock of our inventories
Of good deeds, what to the table we bring
Wrapped in our cloaks of not-my-business,
My life is so pleasing, well-ordered, and neat
Why put myself out for some lowdown?
When I realized many helped me with my load.
written March 28, 2022
[Verso-Rhyme]
Sometimes we cross those bridges
with the matches in our hand.
We light that b**ch on fire ,
though it wasn't what we'd planned.
When happily ever after
turns into hell on earth,
it's time to take stock of our lives
and remember our self worth .
You can only try so long
to make things work out right
before it's time to cut those ties,
when flight outweighs the fight .
Don't let someone bring you down
to the point of no return.
Just cross the bridge, light the match
and let that sucker burn
I am a very lucky man
to be a tiny part
of God's grand plan
On the Sabbath I stay away
from society's business
for one whole day
Spend time with family and friends
Pray, study, commune
take stock of life's ends
Afterward, relaxed and refreshed
I resume life's daily test
primed to do my level-best
we set the alarm to go off hourly
to take stock of emotions patiently
compelling us to make note of stupor
wherein instincts determine our stature
far cry from watching our thoughts mindfully
gently thus shifting consciousness fulcrum
there remains no ego residuum
whereupon nestled in tranquil silence
slowly awakens inner sentience
each node of form a bliss sensorium
immersed thus in all time meditation
softened attention orientation
layer by layer desires vaporise
our childlike innocence welcomes surprise
equal in void and manifestation
boundaries blur horizons disappear
emptiness displaces our dormant fears
essence of our presence pure and unstained
assimilates blessings in time ingrained
magically drawing the love throb near
where did we begin and where are we now
we know not as we take a humble bow
in not within flow of life in motion
nonchalant to outer world commotion
flowing in rapture each life breath a wow
01-April-2021
Are you our sort of writer?
Do you write
Stories or poems
Memoirs or nonfiction
Or some other form?
Blank pages wait for something new, do you
Put something on it before you walk away?
Stop waiting.
Open your notebook,
Empty, empty, do you need a pen
Click it and write
A passage or metaphor
And with it
Will you marry your thoughts
It is your destiny.
To rest your eyes you’ll see
Something with your mind
You’ll take stock of your life
And leave your heart naked
Do you want a disguise-
Rouge and bright
Will you marry your lines
Will they shatter or fade with the sun
Will they weaken with the passage of time
Others remember you by.
Now your muse is weary
I have an answer for that.
Come on friend, sit at the table
And see what you make of that.
Your thoughts will be silver
Your words framed in gold.
A shimmering life if you look
Images for the heart
It will sing to you.
It works, even if just a little
Your story has a hole, a ghost to tell
Behind your eye, you have an image
It’s your time to shine
Will you marry your lines?
Thanks to Sylvia Path for her great works. My poem is based on her piece, titled “The Applicant.”
Why are some religions so full of judgmental hate?
Certain groups claim they are right, then point their fingers and negate.
A certain few must go to heaven, and the rest will burn in hell.
I think many will be surprised when they hear that final bell.
A French teacher was beheaded for showing a certain religious cartoon.
A young man was brutally murdered, for the rainbow colors on his balloon.
Women are treated like animals, children are raped and beaten to death.
All in the name of their God, blasphemy spewed in many a breath.
I guess for me, I will just follow my heart.
I’ll do my best to build and not tear apart.
I will protect those I love this I will do with an iron fist.
I’ll do what I can so we can peacefully coexist.
Judge lest ye be judged, please don’t pass judgement on others.
He will judge you with the same measure you judge your brother.
For those of you who notice that speck in others eyes.
Take stock of your own, so you are not one day surprised.
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