#accomplishments
The Professor settles in and says, “Let’s go around the circle and introduce ourselves”
We listen to resume after resume of unbridled accomplishment. Then he points to me.
“Hi, I’m Anais, I’m a freshman, from Georgia, and I have mad skills. I can ***** about anything or feign complete indifference. I can give the impression of depth or play the ditz. I can pick the slowest line every time and I’m so good at sleeping I can do it with my eyes closed.” I finish and give the professor a head tilted “anything else?” look.
“Uhh,” he gives me an amused look, “thank you Anais. Next.”
Oct 26, 2021
Oct 26, 2021 at 12:52 PM UTC
Most of my travels,
A loaner, no one by my side,
Looking at situations,
Wondering why,
I’ll give effort to help anyone,
If they are honest, and will try.
The road I’m traveling,
Will narrow, towards the finish line,
What I don’t achieve now,
May forever, be extra weight,
I will carry, in my mind,
I’ve failed or achieved before,
I can’t put a pause,
On what’s left,
Of my precious,
Time.
Tom Maxwell ©
4/1/2020 AD
11:00 Am
Jan 17, 2021
Jan 17, 2021 at 7:46 PM UTC
A piece of your heart
Goes somewhere very far
You try to hold on
But the wind is too strong
It climbs over mountains
And swims across seas
It travels the world
Looking for a special destiny
At times it loses hope
At times it loses faith
Still it keeps going
For somewhere between that there is a big dream
How far will it go?
How long will it take?
It remains a mystery
But as long as it keeps searching
One day, it will fit in his place
Hopeful Soul
Dec 21, 2020
Dec 21, 2020 at 5:25 AM UTC
What the hell does that mean?
When does someone become an adult?
When they turn 18? 21?
Or does age even matter?
Maybe it’s more about what someone does.
How much someone accomplishes.
What makes someone an adult?
Driving?
Moving out of your parents house?
Getting an education?
Losing their virginity?
Having a full time job?
Making money?
Marriage? Children?
What if I haven’t accomplished any of these?
What does that make me?
All I know is that I’m 25
and still feel like a ******* child.
Oct 16, 2020
Oct 16, 2020 at 10:31 PM UTC
Bucket list dog-eared
Worn on the edges
And my youth
A scribble
Dancing and twirling around
Wild loops bounding
Off the page
And I sat there
Reading each demand
I had laid out for my future
And now were only questions
Open ended and I had no answers
And this ignorance
Perplexed me
For I once could react
And now I knew I never had the answers
So with a new sheet of paper
I scribbled out my truth
And tried to find my journey
Between the lines
Jul 2, 2020
Jul 2, 2020 at 1:24 AM UTC
Without father, without mother,
I grew up, running wild and free.
Mountains I conquered, cities I build;
In a strange land, I've now arrived.
Your light was brighter than the sun,
Your hushed whispers, overwhelmed the Sirens.
I'm tempted, I followed and I fell;
In a strange land, I'm now enslaved.
Apr 2, 2019
Apr 2, 2019 at 2:38 AM UTC
Guilt of lack of sleep
makes me decide to go to bed early,
Guilt of lack of accomplishments
makes me unable to sleep thinking about it,
Guilt of sleeping in and time wasted
makes me put 3 alarms at 6:01 am, 6:02 am, and 6:05 am,
Guilt of my emotions eating me up,
makes me unable to get up even when Im wide awake,
It turns out that guilt is the only thing I accomplish, allow to eat my day up, and yet can't decide on lacking.
Mar 17, 2019
Mar 17, 2019 at 2:07 PM UTC
As the fifth unknown actor gave their heartfelt speech after winning an award,
She realised that all her efforts to win little trophies at school,
just to stamp her name on something to feel the slightest bit accomplished,
Are pointless.
Because who really notices your wins in the end except for yourself?
Jan 7, 2019
Jan 7, 2019 at 3:31 PM UTC
i’m glad that it was so easy
for you to accomplish what
i’ve been trying to gain the
courage to start for so long.
Jul 22, 2018
Jul 22, 2018 at 11:16 PM UTC
“If I didn’t force you to do it you wouldn’t have gotten these medals”
If you didn’t force me to do it I wouldn’t have gotten these medals
“These aren’t accomplishments”
These aren’t accomplishments
“You don’t have any accomplishments”
I don’t have any accomplishments
“If it weren’t for me, you would have nothing”
If it weren’t for you, I would have nothing
“You should thank me”
I should thank you
No
If you didn’t force me to do it, I wouldn’t have done it
But I did do it
And those medals are mine
My accomplishments
I don’t care if 4th place isn’t good enough for you
I don’t care if you don’t think they’re accomplishments
Because I know they are
They are mine
Not yours
And maybe I should thank you
For making me realize
I don’t need your approval
Maybe I should thank you
For making me realize
I was being brainwashed
To think I’m worthless
Because now I know
Finally
Apr 13, 2018
Apr 13, 2018 at 9:31 AM UTC
Her messy tied up hair shows her hard work
Not in the gym, but in the classroom
Late nights and lots of energy drinks
She has goals, not dreams
Because she believes if she puts her mind to it
She can do anything
Her accomplishments are earned
And that should be worth something
Jun 22, 2017
Jun 22, 2017 at 6:46 PM UTC
You collect your tears in a bell jar
for the day you run dry
you roll your memories over until they are smooth
like pie dough
you grapple with the inevitable
often afraid to move
so as not to awaken death
but listen to me, my friend
you have conquered life to reach this point
you have bathed in the sanctity of passion
and conjured imaginary places
while in the bliss of the finest music
you have beamed like the Sun
at the instant of creating new life
and turned numb with agony at the moment
of losing one so close
you have managed to elude the stones thrown your way
and graciously recover from the throws of failure
you have survived
do not fear or run from your impending leave
your mark is of tremendous value and expanse
to human kind
your love has healed and brought joy
your creations are you
and will continue to thrive in your name
embrace these days
be cleansed in your life's history
revel in your time
Apr 23, 2017
Apr 23, 2017 at 7:57 PM UTC
My greatest desire
is to be a better person
than I was the day before
To reach new heights
without fear
To accomplish goals
without seeking reward
To forgive
even when it's painful
To love
unconditionally
and to face tomorrow
with a brand new attitude
Jul 3, 2016
Jul 3, 2016 at 10:56 PM UTC
I sit in front of the fire and think, of olden
days, of yore. Of those moments which, by
virtue of their power, still shine golden, or
shimmer darkly, like ebony in a pool in the
dying light, out of the mists of age and forget-
fullness, this both a blessing and a curse, to one
who has lived so long as I. For I have seen many
triumphs and celebrations, and many more defeats
and fruitless victories, these like the long dark shadow
stretching out from the pillar of my accomplishments.
This pillar is the anchor of my life; without it, I would be
lost in the sea of my own wretched failures. And yet,
still, from my vantage point atop that shining monument
that enshrines all that was, is, and will be good in my life, still
the shadow grows, along with the pillar itself, for though
I have passed that point of sweet and soaring ****** at the
epitome of my life, and have long since begun the descending
spiral towards the grave, I am not yet dead. And yet, even as my pillar grows, so does my shadow, and its length grows longer as my years increase, and the memory of past failures compound one upon the other, until they are stretched far out to the distant horizon, and have filled it with darkness and shadows, for the sun is low, as my age ascends, and so the shadows lengthen. And yet. Through all of this, of the pain of my failures, of the tragedies of my defeats, of the defeats of others who were close to my heart, peace is with me, and I have no fear, and I am happy, and I give of myself to others, and expecting nothing, receive all, for the gratitude and happiness of others in response to ones generosity and love, is the greatest reward that one may hope to attain.
For I do not dwell only in the past, but in the present, and do not impose worry and fear upon my soul through vain speculations of what the future may bring, and instead live in the present, and think on the past, and act according to what I believe to be right, before the eyes of man, and the eyes of God. And all is right with me, and I am happy, and as I sit here before the hearth, the fire leaping merrily, and crackling like a thousand distant fireworks, I smile, and sink softly into sleep.
Dec 26, 2015
Dec 26, 2015 at 11:26 PM UTC
What could've been
I have not forgotten.
The road I could've taken
Is there somewhere behind me.
I wonder which road
Is the one I'll regret
The day after tomorrow -
A day like this one
That is never ending.
Sep 29, 2015
Sep 29, 2015 at 11:02 PM UTC
Double sided
Your presence always accompanied
By the most dreadful momentum
You are gaining speed
You are losing peace
You are giving the lead
To a power that won’t cease
It’s cloaked in impulse
A body of desire
Though intention rests in its holsters
Pride is all it fires
Swirling beauty slow down!
Running too fast for those
Who can recognize to see
And those who can’t to catch
You champion hope by burying action
With action of the wrong kind
This version of hope doesn’t
Liberate, but rather infects the mind
Hope was meant to inspire
Not fuel a pointless fire
You’ve made your conscience a liar
Dragging ideals through the mire
Shadow-kissed
A waste of this
Inverting experiences
You won’t want to reminisce
A romance not worth a single ounce
Of the blood you’ve already lost
Put to death that with which you lay
If only you knew the cost
Why can’t you see the bottom?
Aug 24, 2015
Aug 24, 2015 at 2:43 PM UTC
I did this
I did that
Means nothing in the end
Without love
Aug 1, 2015
Aug 1, 2015 at 8:28 PM UTC
sinking in tides that like the blue nights you spent smoking out dream after nightmare until they turned to ashes of shattered glass bottles that once held your dusty peace together only distracted you from the haze left behind from your speed boat of orange memories and endless applauses of accomplishments, you are not a failure just because the ink in your pen ran out of rhymes, you are a full solar system with planets to call your own, the ropes at each moon are yours to call home and no amount of broken silhouettes will track anyone to your tents of stocked up dried out flowers, even when your heart is being licked with cold flames of metals you still cant fail to pronounce with the back of your scorching tongue
Jul 11, 2015
Jul 11, 2015 at 3:58 AM UTC
Mr. Know It All
Who do you think you are?
You speak like you know everything
when it’s obvious you know nothing.
You act like you’re some kind of genius
but all you are is a freaking alcoholic.
Mr. Know It All
You seem to think you’re Christopher Langan
the man considered to be the smartest in America.
In high school he taught himself things
such as
advanced math, physics, philosophy, Latin and Greek
he allegedly got 100% on his SAT.
Mr. Know It All
What were your accomplishments?
You dropped out of high school your senior year
You started smoking and drinking when you were 15.
You led one daughter to suicide
and you treat the other like she’s an idiot.
Mr. Know It All
Are you Kim Ung-Yong in your mind?
He could read
Korean, Japanese, English and German
by the time he was three.
Moved to America to work at NASA
when he was eight.
Mr Know It All
You’re forty-four
and you can’t even speak one other language
let alone four.
You’ve never worked at NASA
you work in a warehouse.
Mr. Know It All
You are not a genius
you are an alcoholic
you have little accomplishments
and the tragedies you cause out weigh
them by tons.
Mr. Know It All
Give up and shut up
we don’t want to hear it.
Stop drinking
you’re quieter when you’re sober
and we like the quiet.
Mr. Know it All
The words coming from your mouth
are not intelligent,
and I’m done listening to them.
Goodbye and have a great life.
Feb 17, 2015
Feb 17, 2015 at 10:42 PM UTC
There are days
When I look at the week before me
And only see the list of things
To be completed and checked of
No joy, simply a methodical process
I call life
But I had an exam this week
For dance not school
A change in the schedule
Stressful, yes
But also an accomplishment greater than my average week
And as I came out of the exam
I remembered why I put myself through hours of rehearsal each week
Because when I perform
I am alive
I am full of an energy
High on the sense of pride and self-esteem I don't feel any other time
Feeling like, for a moment, I can do anything
It doesn't last all that long
But that's is okay
Because now I've remembered
And I won't forget again
Feb 7, 2015
Feb 7, 2015 at 9:24 PM UTC
She leans over the stick,
Hefting her full weight and thumping
--step by step--
across the room.
Once, she used to gallop lightly.
She ran track,
played basketball.
She always assumed that life would bring her
marvelous deeds,
That time would equate to glory and fame.
But the clock ticked the minutes away.
Days passed,
Years flew by.
Glory and fame never came.
Instead, age crippled her once lithe body.
And the deeds she accomplished were wondrous only to her own
Failing
Eyes.
For she rejoiced every time she made it,
--step by step--
Cane in hand,
Across the room.
Aug 3, 2014
Aug 3, 2014 at 8:47 AM UTC
Maybe people did not realize what they had done.
The ****** of the people and their hope.
Africans are no different, so why were they treated as such?
It's better now! Tables with no signs that say,
"White Only."
Benches for everyone to use. One drinking fountain instead of two:
One on each side of the building.
One in the same!
And college, striving for a better future
Is an option.
Now, was that so hard?
Jun 10, 2014
Jun 10, 2014 at 10:34 PM UTC