NaPoWriMo Day 2

ON GREED

Oh once upon a time a King,

Sat on a Royal Throne.

While at his feet a Royal hound,

Gnawed on a Royal bone.

 

The bone belonged, or so it seemed,

To the late former King.

To normal folk, it’s murder clear,

To them a different thing.

 

Now heavy weighs the new King’s head,

Beneath it’s crown ill-got.

He looks out on his courtiers there,

Can almost hear them plot.

 

He knows for once he plotted there,

Before the late King’s throne.

Imagines he can see the stain,

Of blood upon the stone.

 

The new King knows he may not rest,

Must vigilant remain.

Lest Royal blood, his own this time,

Shall flow free once again.

 

So listen to this tale my friend,

And learn it’s lesson well.

The prize not always worth the price,

‘Til it’s too late to tell.

 

Please reach not for that thing you want,

If it’s not yours to take.

The very truth of who you are,

That is the wagered stake.

 

I thought I was a better man,

Than he who sat here then.

But I have killed to gain this crown,

To keep it killed again.

 

This is not who I meant to be,

Yet now I play this part.

While conscience shrieks and tears it’s hair,

Deep in my darkened heart.

 

This wisdom is the boon I grant,

From my high stolen seat.

While poisons drip and daggers glint,

‘Mongst those with words most sweet.

 

Now that is all I have to share,

My kingly wisdom spent.

Ignore desire and walk away,

Your evil ways repent.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 7

Own You

Why do we do the things we do?
What is it makes us go?
And when we do what we should not,
Pretend we didn’t know?
Some say this is the way we are,
Imperfect, full of sin.
Some say it’s what our parents did,
Still buried deep within.
I say it is each choice we make,
We make each one alone.
Not parents, God nor DNA,
It’s on our heads alone.
We choose to hold one person back,
Another person teach.
The hand that hurts, the hand that helps,
Just one mind guides them each.
We are just who we choose to be,
No truth could be so plain.
Some lash out from the smallest hurt,
Some rise above their pain.
You cannot choose all of the things,
That life will bring to you.
It’s up to you how you respond,
Think well before you do.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 5

THE FUTURE

We see a shape but dimly there

Not certain what we see.

Project on it our hopes and fears,

No clue what it will be.

 

A thing of beauty it may be,

Yet certain we are not.

It may be brutal or bizarre,

May prove ice cold or hot.

 

The problem is we cannot know

Until we reach that time.

If it will be a paradise,

Or childbirth a crime.

 

What we must now remember most,

It will be what we make.

Our children and their children shall,

Pay then, what we now take.

 

So live your life with one eye now,

With one the future seek.

And leave to them a dream we built,

Not nightmare dark and bleak.

 

Cheers, Winston

 

What Am I Doing?

I mean really… What the heck am I thinking. I made it through April by the skin of my teeth, yet here I am writing another verse. Sometimes I really wonder about me.

 

Our Own Worst Enemy

Technology is not the foe,

it’s not your enemy.

That AI that you dread so much,

is far less threat than me.

 

The science that grows beef in labs,

and soy that bugs won’t eat.

Is building apps to help the blind,

and other needs to meet.

 

It’s not the tech that ends us all,

but what we do with it.

It’s our own inhumanity,

will make our future shit.

 

A hammer’s just a hammer and,

can’t care what it’s used for.

The person using it decides,

to build or start a war.

 

All tech comes down to this same choice,

that shapes our future days.

To kill or cure, to build or burn,

I pray we change our ways.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 23

So… here we are… caught up again for the moment.  I just have to figure out what to catch up with.

 

Creating Ghosts

We all carry our ghosts with us,

bits of our past that cling.

Of choices that we now regret,

that baggage that we bring.

The ones we hurt, the ones we lost,

the ones we pushed away.

Now every one is still with us,

within our minds they stay.

We think we’re free of all that’s past,

in that there is no truth.

We’re haunted by the things we’ve done,

the errors of our youth.

As we look back, more often now,

the view begins to change.

It fills with faces of the lost,

some known and some strange.

Then we begin to understand,

the difference that we make.

Face some regrets accept some blame,

wish life’s tests to retake.

But that is not the way this works,

what’s done is done and done.

We can just try to learn from them,

be kind to everyone.

And if we change, if change we can,

with kindness set our path.

Perhaps the demons of our past,

will set aside their wrath.

 

Cheers, Winston

 

NaPoWriMo Day 7

My wonderful wife Lynn has been listening to my poems this month and mentioned that I seem to be on a self-awareness kick. Apparently, she’s right (as she usually is).

What Price the Dream?

 

“Livin’ the dream.” you hear them say,

but at what price that dream?

The fancy house, the shiny car,

are they all that they seem?

 

We work and work to have nice things,

but things can’t hold your hand.

When all is said and all is done,

perhaps we’ll understand.

 

This time we have is all we have,

we spend it every day.

But in the end when it is gone,

there’s nothing we won’t pay.

 

But it’s too late when time is gone,

you cannot buy some more.

So all the things you spent it on,

are what your life was for.

 

Are you your house, your car, your toys?

Or hero to your kid.

When you look back what will you see?

Be proud of what you did?

 

So just make sure you spend it well,

on what you love the best.

And when it’s gone and you look back,

your choice will stand the test.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 5

Yes, I know that I’m posting this on day 6. At least it’s getting posted, so half-marks for that.

Be Here Now

We spend so much of every day,

caught up inside our head.

Dwelling still upon the past,

or planning far ahead.

But all the time we spend like that,

is time we are not here.

This present now is all we have,

and we should hold it dear.

Each time we think of all we’ve had,

we throw our now away.

And as we dream of what we want,

we miss out on today.

I do not say you should not plan,

or should forget the past.

Just do not give your life to them,

it’s now, be here at last.

Right now as you are reading this,

your mind is far away.

Thinking of all the other things,

that you will do today.

But you are here and it is now,

live in this time you’re in.

When you are with the ones you love,

then wandering’s a sin.

They are what is most important,

not what was said at work.

The person who is here with you,

is not your boss (That jerk!).

So don’t give past the power to,

destroy your now as well.

For re-living your pains each day,

is like a mini hell.

So be here now, be when you are,

take back your life today.

For here and now come round but once,

It’s where we all should stay.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 4

So Canada turns 150 this year! Here is my first tribute to the country that I am privileged to call home.

Canada 150

One hundred-fifty years ago,

my Canada began.

It’s dream of freedom and of peace,

a continent did span.

And now we stand here looking back,

at just how far we’ve come.

With some things we have come quite far,

and dropped the ball on some.

We are diverse, a varied lot,

who rarely can agree.

We argue, shout and brawl and such,

but no one shoots at me.

And half the time near half of us,

they want to leave the rest.

But then they slowly realize,

together, we’re the best.

So wave a flag and raise a pint,

to this grand land we share.

And if you doubt it is the best,

go try your luck elsewhere.

 

Cheers, Winston

Return of the Poet

I’m actually a day late with this. I had planned a while ago to participate again in NaPoWriMo. Then totally zoned yesterday and forgot about it. Oops.

Here we go anyway!

The Return of the Poet

It’s April once again and I,

Begin to write anew.

To search throughout my cobwebbed mind,

Tell something that is true.

Those rhymes I’ve made and words I’ve spilled.

So oft upon the page.

Are scarcer and much slower found,

My brain now shows it’s age.

So here’s a truth from one who’s looked,

Unflinching at his days.

Don’t sit and wait, the time is now,

To grow, to change your ways.

For in the end with every choice,

Our soul is more defined.

So think before you speak or act,

There’s no chance to rewind .

Cheers, Winston

Morality For The Lost

Morality For The Lost

A demon danced in dead man’s shoes,
His face turned to the rain.
An angel raged on through the night,
Adrift on seas of pain.

A babe new born an orphan lost,
Alone and powerless.
A demon too far gone to curse,
The angel cannot bless.

The babe, a child, grows up alone,
Ward of a careless state.
And still the demon dances on,
The angel curses fate.

The child becomes a young man now,
Most think he has no chance.
He’s seen the angel, knows his rage,
Has learned the demon’s dance.

He’s done some bad, he’s done some good,
He’s learned what’s right and wrong.
It isn’t what you do but why,
That drags your soul along.

A demon dances in the rain,
He wears a young mans face.
And those who see him watch in awe,
Angelic rage and grace.

He sees no absolutes in life,
In terms of wrong or right.
To him there’s only shades of grey,
Invisible at night.

Cheers, winston