when just livin' is enough
and i'm not getting paper cuts
from the rough edge of a list
of what i must do before i die--
recording goals i've hit
and dreams i've missed
on that hypothetical list.
i won't stand on the grass--
looking above--
watching my life pass over
like the clouds above
my head and shoulders.
i won't kick my life
aimlessly down the road
like a soda-pop can--
ricocheting on the pavement
and bouncing off the cement
until it momentarly stops--
until kicked again.
i won't ride my life in the car
of a secure and routed rollar-coaster--
planned drops and presupposed lifts--
popping up like bread out of a toaster.
screeching around each plotted bend
until the end
where i get out and wonder what's next.
i won't drop my life
off of the top of a science building--
placed in the egg-dropping apparatus
that a seventh grader's been building
(for their experiment testing
the function of both gravity
and velocity)--
a little bubble-wrap
to protect the shell,
the softest tissue
to protect the yoke--
OOPS! it broke--
(but at least i learned something).
i will be active and fluid,
open-minded and mindful--
won't be passive, over-zealous,
routed, or frivolous
with the life i've been givin'--
for just livin' is enough
(afterall, it's not that tough
being givin'
about an eighty year (or so) span
to do with what i can).
i'll smile fondly
at past memmories done--
smile contentedly at the present--
and smile anxiously
(but not over-anxiously)
at all the life to come.
i'll balance hopes, dreams, aspirations
in one hand,
and the reality of my ever-present
optimistic acceptence
of circumstance
in the other--
for just livin' is enough for me.
Want to review or comment on this poem?
Need a FREE Reader Membership?
Reviews of "soda-pop dreams and coaster realities"
Reviewed by Jerry Andrews (Reader)
Reviewed on June 29, 2008
More good poetry! I like it a lot. Words:given not givin'(short for giving)-memories, acceptance. You need more experience and all you have to do is stay alive. You'll get it whether or not you want it. You'll love it because of your nature(a fine one). Thanks for all the poetry.Jerry
Reviewed by La Belle Rouge (Reader)
Reviewed on January 30, 2004
This introspective poem was a pleasure to read.
Reviewed by ya mama (Reader)
Reviewed on January 29, 2004
another wonderful poem. You also come up with some fab titles.
A famous poet once told me that if you throw in a little pop culture like soda-pop or wal-mart in your poems in a strange way it makes your poems timeless.
Reviewed by Andrea Dietrich (Reader)
Reviewed on January 27, 2004
HI, there, I enjoyed some of the metaphors in this one. YOu should do a metaphor for how you ARE living at the end of it. Come cute lines. luv, andrea
Dear readers, this is my third book of poems, and inside are a special collection of what have turned out to be not only MY personal favorites, but also the favorites of many of YOU. Some of these have never been available in print before...
A Collection of Voices from Around the World is more than just a poetry compilation. It is a partnership of poets from around the globe brought together by an internet poetry forum. That forum, poetrypages.com, has been the home of many a fine poet s
“The woman or man who is a poet, or fiction writer, or playwright, or all of these, is engaged constantly in a jazz ballet of vocabularies, passions, genders, histories, perspectives, death, love, and life. The music of revelation announces itself to
Share
Print
Save
Follow
A famous poet once told me that if you throw in a little pop culture like soda-pop or wal-mart in your poems in a strange way it makes your poems timeless.