PAD challenge day 18

Before it is Too Late

Rest your weary arm,

the machine will wait awhile;

think past yourself,

to your children,

and the way you leave them.

Indulge not in worldly delight,

but lay your soul bare

to reason, exposed to doubt,

free from the night,

clothed in sunlight

See the world

through youthful eyes,

with hope and wonder,

where choice still exists.

Open the door for better-

leave them with something

more than your sentence;

a slave to desire,

forever hunting,

restless in wanting

Your weathered body,

your tortured mind,

are relics of a society

determined by this moment.

Prepare for their future,

for their future is near;

do not condemn them

to your life

living without cheer,

dying of fear

Give them wisdom

of your mistakes.

Whether they take it

is not your concern,

only that your faults

survive to inspire

a new generation

evaluating how you

chased shades of desire,

changed shapes of an empire

a prompt from Robert Lee Brewer's Poem-A-Day challenge. had to write a glosa which is 4 ten-line stanzas, lines 6,9,10 rhyming, and each ending with a consecutive line from a four-line poem [excerpt]. was difficult and took a while, but happy with the result.

‘Clothed in sunlight

restless in wanting

dying of fear

Changed shapes of an empire’

from “Lamerica” by Jim Morrison

off the bench

Not sure I could give one specific reason why I have been absent for so long; maybe I needed to stay in my head and focus on other things for a while.

My post a few days ago was more convenience than intention; needed to post that poem somewhere. Not sure that I planned to resume this blog just yet, though I had thought about it recently.

I have been writing after a short time away, putting a pen to paper one day with no real plan, just a thought and a beat. I had not felt them same urge to blog until this evening, and mostly because of last night.  Finally made it to an intramural soccer game with fellow CEEP (more on this later)members, known as the Treehuggers. Been a long while since I played and realized after that, though I knew what I was missing, how I valued those things was somewhat lost.

Maybe the same is true for blogging. I will give it an honest effort and see what happens.

PAD challenge day 11

Wrote this Robert Brewer's Poetic Asides poem a day challenge. Could not post there; glad I still have the blog.

Prompt is to write a poem from the perspective of a soldier.

A New Objective

The War changed me;
It changed us all.
I left to fight a foreign monster,
But we were commended
For defeating a national depression
Long after or return.
As we prepared for the trenches
Of Korea and Nam
(Conveniently in the trough),
The same hopes hung
On the thousands of waving hands;
The same hands that bought
Into this mess, but not into the War,
That bought and sold the guns,
But never had to fire a shot.
And on or return,
There were no galas,
No parades for our sacrifice
During these conflicts-
It cost too much.