Poems to live by, on GN and beyond!

Thanks v much, Galen, one of my fave quotes. Thanks feetle copied immediately to friends and family so they can have a laugh as well.

The Deodorata is funny.

With ridiculous nonsense about being found in a churchyard somewhere... oh yes, had those tea towels...

Desderata is a bit Mary Wilson, isn't it?

feetle

Oh! That Mary Wilson. I thught you meant this one

Was searching through song titles...

With ridiculous nonsense about being found in a churchyard somewhere

Then you have taken much more interest in Desiderata than I have as it has never occurred to me to check (the Baltimore info came from the plaque on which it is written), I was always more interested in the words.

oh yes, had those tea towels...

Never seen one, never had one.

Desderata is a bit Mary Wilson, isn't it?

I don't know - is it?

"^Never seen one, never had one^"

Well I am surprised. All the junk gift shops in the Yorkshire Dales used to be full of them.

example of Mary Wilson's poems here

Thanks to everyone who has shared interesting / thought-provoking / beautiful / funny pieces. I needed those!

Late Fragment by Raymond Carver,

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

Oh now, that's really nice.

Thank you jings, it's all that matters really isn't it?

You see, the trouble with the Jenny Joseph one is, it's such a giving in poem.

Yes. You're right ppb. That and loving them back.

ppb x

I think that Jenny Joseph one's been so over-hyped it's become really annoying to a lot of people. It might have been quite funny the first time...

Many years ago I volunteered to help two teenagers who were slow readers and being bullied. I struggled to find things they might like to read as the printed word was literally a closed book. I happened to have a short horror story for them thinking that might appeal. They were digging each other in the ribs and pointing to another piece of paper in my folder the first lines of Last Lines they thought it was beautiful.they were to all intents and purposes unlovely teens but ived loved teenagers ever since .

Last Lines
BY ANNE BRONTË
I hoped, that with the brave and strong,
My portioned task might lie;
To toil amid the busy throng,
With purpose pure and high.

Although I copied the Jenny Joseph poem onto this thread, I have to agree that it has become something of a cliché and is now very outdated. I wouldn't mind betting that many of us wear purple in some form or other since it it no longer a sign of eccentricity. Nowadays, almost anything goes at any age. No-one I know of indulges in the unedifying habit of spitting, more usually associated with footballers who are not generally elderly!

Oh wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oorsels as ithers see us.
(Robert Burns 'To a Louse')

I have spread my dreams under your feet.
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
(WB Yeats 'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven')

Oh, that first one is my all-time favourite, I think, anno!

Well I am surprised. All the junk gift shops in the Yorkshire Dales used to be full of them.

I don't live in the Yorkshire Dales

Local junk shops tend to have tea towels with Traai da Looar on them - I've never owned one of those either.

annodomini - the Jenny Joseph poem reminded me of this one:

WHEN I'M AN OLD LADY

When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each kid,
and bring so much happiness, just as they did.
I want to pay back all the joy they've provided.
Returning each deed! Oh, they'll be so excited!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

I'll write on the wall with reds, whites and blues,
and I'll bounce on the furniture wearing my shoes.
I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.
I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

When they're on the phone and just out of reach,
I'll get into things like sugar and bleach.
Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,
and when that is done, I'll hide under the bed!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

When they cook dinner and call me to eat,
I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat,
I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,
And when they get angry. I'll run. if I'm able!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

I'll sit close to the TV, through the channels I'll click,
I'll cross both eyes just to see if they stick.
I'll take off my socks and throw one away,
and play in the mud till the end of the day!
(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids)

And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh,
I'll thank God in prayer and then close my eyes.
My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,
and say with a groan, "She's so sweet when she's sleeping!"

(there is a slightly better one but I can't find it sadly)

It's a popular holiday destination. With shops to match.

That poem is very good.

Personally, I seem to live life by this one
ou know this world is complicated, imperfect and oppressed
And it's not hard to feel timid, apprehensive and depressed.
It seems that all around us tides of questions ebb and flow
And people want solutions but they don’t know where to go.

Opinions abound but who is wrong and who is right.
People need a prophet, a diffuser of the light.
Someone they can turn to as the crises rage and swirl.
Someone with the remedy, the wisdom, and the pearl.

Well, they should have asked my ‘usband, he’d have told’em then and there.
His thoughts on immigration, teenage mothers, Tony Blair,
The future of the monarchy, house prices in the south
The wait for hip replacements, BSE and foot and mouth.

Yes, they should have asked my husband he can sort out any mess
He can rejuvenate the railways he can cure the NHS
So any little niggle, anything you want to know
Just run it past my husband, wind him up and let him go.

Congestion on the motorways, free holidays for thugs
The damage to the ozone layer, refugees and drugs.
These may defeat the brain of any politician bloke
But present it to my husband and he’ll solve it at a stroke.

He'll clarify the situation; he will make it crystal clear
You'll feel the glazing of your eyeballs, and the bending of your ear.
Corruption at the top, he’s an authority on that
And the Mafia, Gadafia and Yasser Arafat.

Upon these areas he brings his intellect to shine
In a great compelling voice that’s twice as loud as yours or mine.
I often wonder what it must be like to be so strong,
Infallible, articulate, self-confident …… and wrong.

When it comes to tolerance – he hasn’t got a lot
Joyriders should be guillotined and muggers should be shot.
The sound of his own voice becomes like music to his ears
And he hasn’t got an inkling that he’s boring us to tears.

My friends don’t call so often, they have busy lives I know
But its not everyday you want to hear a windbag suck and blow.
Encyclopaedias, on them we never have to call
Why clutter up the bookshelf when my husband knows it all!