Rear view

 I came, I saw, I shuddered at the thought 

that all of my achievements will mean nought.

Our final judgment is always regret

 So many words, but none of them are true,

for none of us is certain of the right, 

since any turn is sure to let us rue

not just the lions we failed to pursue 

when we were armed, and they were within sight.

So many words, but none of them are true 

when we're not able to shine, nor to renew 

our inner senses, out of shock or fright,

since any turn is sure to make us rue.

We counted years, and saw how fast they flew 

as we first gained and then lost all our might;

so many words, but none of them are true.

We each look backward, and conclude that few

of our small deeds can be saved from the night 

since any turn is sure to make us rue.

Yet still we're hopeful of finding the clue

to how we may leave records in the light.

So many words, but none of them are true

since any turn is sure to make us rue.

Daffodils

 A man sees early flowers beside a lake

and thinks them a fit subject for kind thought.

He could not know his poem would be taught

across an age. His words would come to make

so many future children by mistake 

conclude that flowers were images that caught 

the truth of poetry, thus having naught

of meaning for the future they would make.

But minor pleasures are not the true bright stuff

of all the suffering, and of all the joy,

that poems may capture and bring into sight

of a fresh world accessible to rough

and gentle both, that lets us each enjoy 

the magic that brings life into the light.