All my life I’ve wondered
What in the world put me here?
And when the colors glide together
I must lean back from
what I see to
get a better look
The vivid edges show me
what time has really done with
my rain-filled skies and
happy smiles
What movement has
Created from my birth and
what change has had
me realize
The events multiply into a
saga of choices and
things beyond my
reach
When pondering my achievements
I remember the
simple moments,
choosing to be cordial
and the lasting seals I’ve
left on
this place
If just one indefinite thing lives
longer than I do
it’s been worth it
And even at my pessimistic peak,
I know that if
my most horrible deeds have been
coming into possession of someone else’s pen
and having too much of a good thing-
words, lips, and candy-
I’ve done more good than bad
But though I try to pull
my slack in my
stronger moments
I can’t quite tauten the string
of happenstances
Mine.
However, this necessitation
teaches me to use my greatest abilities
the
first time and I’ve
learned too much to
be forced to ponder slighter
things for long
It is just the
most important questions of
this life that
cause me to sit and wonder
like
the reason I am
a pawn of the world
a servant of God
ballet is beautiful
but a wordless story seems
to leave one wanting something
more and
when I’m gone I need for
there to be tastes of my spirit
in vision and mind
contentment to replace the ordinary dissatisfaction
my trunk can grow tall but
if only a spattering
of leaves grow from
branches not reaching vary far
what is the point of growing for so long
yet if I’ve taught
children to look deeper
than crust and see core
without having to search
surely I’ve
achieved a perfect score
if I’ve molded minds towards
fondness of justice
I’ve implanted a sound instinct and I hope
you’ll always trust it
if I’ve shown anyone that
a full life is gained by
simply not discounting anything
I’ve been competent toward my goal.
Why come closer when
I can hear everything
here and when
stress turns it all awry and impossible
all one has
to do is
acquire realization
that success is achieved
solely by keeping the fire going
another day
being about
to see all of the
junctures one can overlook
even the teeth-gritting occasions
can be
turned over onto a smoother
side and I
think most happenings of life are
beautiful
a tiny boy wondrously tugging soft twists
the night’s skies under a girl’s eyes from
drowning in pages the previous night
putting
paint on your nails and orange peels over
your teeth
colorful shoes and
chocolate cake and a
first kiss on your 14th birthday, even
being too scared to ride
or mourning a dog’s death
or getting fired for standing up to a
cruel boss
holding it too long and
fights over basketball
because each and every commodity
should open your eyes
to the fact the you are alive
(you pick the situations you
stay in for
the most part and
you have the power
to make
change)
and I hope you see that
living is not
living
with no risk
every minute is worth it and
nothing happens without reason
I want you to see that my confidence of
a full life comes
from every moment that made it up and
that my life’s greatest regret
is that I don’t remember every day in it.
Notes, criticism, thoughts, please. The part in parenthesis I want to change. This poem was inspired by my great-grandmother’s 95th birthday. I was thinking about what it would be like to look back on life after that long, and this is what stemmed from those thoughts