NaPoWriMo Day 22

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Society, Uncategorized, ValuesLeave a comment

We often hear about the greed of the super rich. But the fact is, it’s most of us as well. We all see the poverty in our own communities and around the world, but so few step up to do anything about it. Instead of waiting for the rich to throw money at these problems or the government to fix them, it’s up to each of us. Today’s poem is about the low-level greed and despair that hold us back from a better world. Enjoy.

 

WE CAN BE THE CHANGE

Today I have enough to eat,

A roof over my head.

I turn a tap and water’s there,

I have a warm, safe bed.

 

Sometimes there’s things that I may want,

I’m sad I cannot get.

But then I try to realize,

They are not needs I bet.

 

So many live without enough,

To eat or even drink.

How spoiled am I to stress about,

Stuff I don’t need, I think.

 

It is the blessing and the curse,

Of where I live I guess.

We have so much, but want much more,

It makes our world a mess.

 

Why’s it so hard to understand,

There’s others need it more.

The money that I spend on whims,

Could truly help the poor.

 

Instead of doing all we can,

To help those most in need.

We drop our coin, to buy that thing,

And never think it’s greed.

 

No, greed’s a thing for CEOs,

Not folks like you and me.

The truth is we are just as bad,

On smaller scale you see.

 

We want to keep all that we make,

The same as rich folk do.

And get upset when strangers ask,

For cash from me and you.

 

We don’t want to be told the truth,

Reminded of the fact.

That we are just like all the rest,

Who know but will not act.

 

We get so overwhelmed when we,

Think of the problem’s scale.

But don’t forget that plankton feed,

The mighty baleen whale.

 

No runner ever starts the race,

Right at the finish line.

It’s all the steps that come between,

To victory incline.

 

So think on this, the smallest step,

We take is something more.

And even baby steps move us,

From where we were before.

 

Before you buy that shiny thing,

That just now caught your eye.

Give just a bit, it’s not that hard.

To help someone, just try.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 21

On By WinstonIn Environment, Loving Life, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Nature, Personal, Poetry2 Comments

I’m not sure why, but I seem to be on a bit of a nature kick this month. Maybe it’s because every time I turn around another piece of it’s been cut down, dug up or plowed over. Whatever the reason, I hope you enjoy todays poem 🙂

SEE THE BEAUTY

“Good morning!” Says the sun to me,

As I bask in it’s light.

When day is done and time for sleep,

The moon tells me “Goodnight.”

Throughout the day the world speaks,

To those who wish to hear.

“Enjoy the wonders all around,

And hold all nature dear.”

We love majestic views and such,

High peaks or ocean shore.

But nature’s beauty’s all around,

We’re missing so much more.

The light that sparkles from the wings,

Of a small dragon fly.

A swallow’s endless grace as it,

Goes swooping through the sky.

The patterns of the insects on,

The surface of a pond.

These and ten million more are there,

But we just look beyond.

Now take a look and really see,

What’s right in front of you.

ALL nature is quite beautiful,

And now you see it’s true.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 20

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Science, Society, Technology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My grandmother lived to be one hundred and four years old. She grew up in London, England in the late 1800s before moving to the prairies in Saskatchewan, Canada. She went from living in the bright center of the British Empire to living in a sod shack. The last time I saw her, she was talking about all the wonders she had seen over her lifetime. From steam engines to moon landings and from telegraphs to television. The pace of progress is even quicker now. Who knows what wonders we will see…

TOMORROW’S WONDERS

I travel ever on and on,

Through this strange place called life.

And lose myself in daily rounds,

Of sadness, joy or strife.

 

But every now and then I wake,

And look around in awe.

At miracles I see each day,

And then forget I saw.

 

A medicine that saves a life,

Last year was surely lost.

But we don’t see the miracle,

Just grumble at the cost.

 

A car that stops before it hits,

A person in the street.

Don’t care about the life it spared,

Just think, “That’s kinda neat!”

 

A human habitat in space,

Now orbits overhead.

Where scientists experiment,

While I I’m asleep in bed.

 

The pace of progress does not sleep,

It forges ever on.

As long as questions still get asked,

‘Til the last human’s gone.

 

Think back to when you were a child,

Now see the massive change.

Now see tomorrow and the next,

How beautiful and strange.

 

I know that it’s not guaranteed,

This future that I see.

But giving it a fighting chance,

Is down to you and me.

 

Try to consume a little less,

Give back a little more.

If we all do a little bit.

We’ll reach that golden shore.

 

So look around with open eyes,

At what we can achieve.

Now every one of us must build,

That future we believe.

 

Cheers, Winston

 

NaPoWriMo Day 19

On By WinstonIn Loving Life, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, springLeave a comment

It’s Easter. For a lot of people, myself included, that means a long weekend. As often happens, it’s raining. Here in the capital of Canada, that is often the case. It’s spring and spring means rain. I don’t mind much because it’s actually my favourite time of the year.

WELCOME SPRING

I look outside at overcast,

And steady, falling rain.

And stop and think, it’s not so bad,

‘Cause spring is here again.

If April showers bring May flowers,

Then they should be here soon.

The beauty only grow each day,

Right through the end of June.

Then summer’s here with hotter days,

It is a different thing.

Of all the seasons of the year,

My favourite one is spring.

To watch the world wake up once more,

From it’s long winter sleep.

Watch barren trees begin to green,

As sap does upward creep.

Returning birds with joyous sound,

Greet every new days dawn.

And every day new wonders brings,

As spring comes slowly on.

So keep the summer’s blist’ring heat,

The autumn’s winding down.

And blinding sun on winter’s snow,

Just makes me squint and frown.

No give me spring, new life, rebirth,

Now babies, blooms and bees.

My heart is filled with joy each year,

When spring it finally sees.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 18

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Science, Technology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The future is coming faster than we think. One day, not too long from now, we will be looking to colonize distant worlds. First within our own system and then someday… beyond.

INTO THE DARK

With thunder louder than the storm,

Light brighter than the dawn.

A mighty ship, heroic crew,

Far from this earth they’ve gone.

They join up with the mothership,

This one will be their home.

Will keep them safe, and warm and fed,

As through the dark they roam.

There’s worlds out there that beckon them,

There’s colonies to found.

With room to grow and cities build,

And riches in the ground.

Don’t ask why they would take this chance,

The answer changes not.

There’s sights no one has ever seen,

And things no one has got.

They are the first to live out there,

That’s why they want to go.

To be the first, do something new,

Know things no one can know.

So up they go beyond the sky,

Where it is always black.

They know the odds, that most of them,

Are never coming back.

But that is how it always is,

How it has always been.

The first to go have often stayed,

Now rest in graves unseen.

Now watch them soar beyond our world,

To their brave words now hark.

They take the future of our kind,

With them into the dark.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 17

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Self Awareness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I lost my temper this morning. It was over something stupid. It didn’t need to happen. I don’t lose it often, but even once in a while is too often. Some days…. I really don’t like myself very much.

 

MY PERSONAL DEMON

There is a rage inside of me,

Each day I watch it grow,

No matter what or how I try,

I cannot make it go.

 

I try so hard to keep it in,

To spare those close to me.

The harder I try to suppress,

The worse when it breaks free.

 

I snarl and shout and sound just like,

I have gone quite insane.

But I’ve no easy reason there,

No illness of the brain.

 

The guilt may damp the flames of rage,

But I know not for long.

And soon enough I’ll loose my grip,

When something small goes wrong.

 

I’ll lose control, the rage will win,

Misplaced as it may be.

Another moment I’ve destroyed,

Ashamed that I am me.

 

I vow that I’ll do better now,

No matter what it takes.

But it always ends up the same,

Can’t learn from my mistakes.

 

There is a beast inside of  me,

It rages on and on.

It does not rest, it will not stop,

‘Til I at last am gone.

 

Cheers, Winston

 

NaPoWriMo Day 16

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Society, Uncategorized, ValuesLeave a comment

So I’ve got a funeral to attend today. I don’t like large groups of relative strangers, or stranger relatives for that matter. I especially don’t like funerals. But I’m going anyway because it’s what we do. This poem is about that sense of obligation.

OUR SOCIAL CONTRACT

There’s things in life we can’t avoid,

There’s things we have to do.

Those things we hate, and would avoid,

But no where to run to.

A social obligation is,

A dreadful weight to bear.

We must fulfil it all the same,

To show how much we care.

We are all social creatures and,

On each other rely.

But there are times, we’d rather be,

Alone to sit and cry.

Instead we wear our public face,

The one we wear for show.

We put away the truth of us,

That no one else should know.

We go and do expected things,

Because that’s who we are.

When we’d far rather go and spend,

That same time in a bar.

But we know others count on us,

We’ll count on them one day.

So brave face on and out the door,

The platitudes to say.

Now do the things I can’t avoid,

The things I have to do.

The things I hate, and would avoid,

All right, I will, for you.

Cheers, Winston