Harry Is A Poet

It stood nobly
Only bowing to the wind
And so, it was respected
Animals were granted access
Gracious for the privilege
They built secure homes
Plants around kept their distance
Do not venture too closely
Was knowledge all knew
Skies flicker
Rains come and go
The tree stands
The proud humans come
Knowing nothing
Of unspoken forest law ***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-tree-in-forest.html

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Robert Frost - The Road not taken

Oh how I long, dear poet of old
For that problem of which I was told
Two roads in the wood, diverging slowly
Seems so wonderful as to render it holy
Oh, how simple this life could be!
Life, as I learn painfully, is difficult
Bridges are burnt and later rebuilt
Paths are backtracked even while changing
Inconsequential decisions universally ranging
While we spend hours on matching paths
I see the beauty, I really truly do
On reducing the number of paths to two
But the campaign for honesty is here
To reduce the natural anxiety and fear
Of a man with only one difficult decision
Worry not, many-issued person of today!
I'll restate these lines in a more applicable way
A thousand sets of a thousand sets of paths diverged in a thousand cities, and I-
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has still made all the difference.
***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/02/choices.html

Often we go through life without even a care

So let's take a moment, to be self-aware

What I do, as I commune poetically

Is possible only because of my vocabulary

Since birth I've been building my bank of words

The meanings and subtleties I've since inferred

That my poetry is a sum of me currently

Simply because to me life was locally lucky

English is my own language, and dominant enough

I've never needed a second way to express stuff

My privilege, my fortune, and in a way, my curse

Is I've never had to learn another way to express verse

As a result, I can be quite nuanced and complex

In a manner of expression which can leave others vexed

'cause I've had a headstart, of my whole life I guess

So when the domain is English I can seem to impress

But now to acknowledge the expense of my lucky 'gift'

I am verbally sparse in every other language to exist

Yet others manage, with such grace and intellect

That their non-nativeness becomes natural to forget

And then

They apologise to me for lacking a little, sometimes

Because their short learning doesn't match my lifetime's

While I have zero expertise in where they come from

They feel so bad for being ever so slightly wrong

So this is a shout out, to those struggling in a second tongue

You are wise beyond years, I'm linguistically young

Never feel ashamed if you ever have to enquire or ask

These verbal tricks of mine are a single language mask

***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/02/second-language.html

You poor little thing, you impossible soul

You who hold the most difficult goal

That among every human on this decrepit earth

Only you have been perfect since birth

The rest of us mortals, we pale next to you

Engaging in things only you have right to

So clearly only thee, blesséd among all

Have the final say and ultimate call

I've never seen you step over your line

Knowing precise the justness of crime

Always in the right place, exactly the right amount late

With the perfect etiquette for first second and third date

If we differ on an issue, it's always me who is wrong

If we sing different tunes, then I know not the song

I've never seen you admit to losing any sort of debate

About who it's right to love, and whom I must hate

I'm trying to learn from you, I really am

From such an honest and uncorrectable man

You give me such much feedback and also advice

About who I am and why I'm not nice

So accept my sympathy, you poor little thing

About the day to day horrors this earth must bring

For it must give you much stress and cause you much fuss

To live among mortals such as us.

***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/02/you-perfect-man.html

Life happens as it occurs to me.
Sometimes, life occurs gently.
Then life is blissful almost wistful running through clouds of mist I'll see each memory as it arrives and feel alive and so
I'll acknowledge the collage of colours life displays knowing that each and every day is just a collection of seconds yet
Each second is my first and life is not trying its worst it's just trying like each of us to get a grip or grasp on everything and anything
Although life is full of stress and somewhat a mess I swear and I declare that more than any other thing existing on this entity we call earth
Life is
Life is what?
It just is.
It exists.
That's the purpose of Life.
The rest of us
We find beauty in that meaning
Distil filter add what is our own and take away from that what we can
An elixir of essence
Then drink my friend
Down
Down to the last drop
Let it infuse with you and become even more you
Life is
We can try to plan or to panic
To fight flight or flounder
To stress savour or strive
To live or to lie
In the end life happens at its own pace
One second per second
As it always has

As it always will
As it occurs to us ***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/02/as-it-occurs-to-me.html

The man I knew was full of surprises
Although I saw through all his disguises
He shocked and inspired me every day
Allowed me to develop (in my own special way)
The man I knew, well, he also knew me
We'd share experiences, wherever they'd be
We'd share the world, this man and I
Or how we laughed in times gone by
The man I knew did not come with me though
The man I knew could not follow where I'd go
The man I knew waited, as I developed afar
The man I knew now seems somewhat bizarre
Because the man I knew did not grow in my absence
He kept all my old prejudice and ignorance
Gained no new memories, and stayed quite still
In the manner of the comatose and deathly ill
See, I treasured my time deeply with the man I knew
I spend my time today with another man, quite new
Because though the man I knew doesn't really exist anymore
The man I knew is just the man I was before ***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-man-i-knew.html

A goodbye can be many things. Yet it is just one word
This is polysemy. From one word, many meanings
Many different responses which can thus be inferred
From a simple goodbye emerges many feelings
"Goodbye Today" is said with closing eyes
An an inevitability in every utterance
The routine sadness is mere inevitability
As it's said with mechanical competence
The goodbye to a hero, that they cannot hear
To an inspiration you may never have met
A person who got you through your darkest year
Though they've gone their legacy is your safety net
Goodbye to a habit you've had for a while
Wishing a life with new habits and motives
Those it may have brought you many a smile
And the impact of its absence will be explosive
The casual goodbye, which later meant much more
A last word you didn't realise would be your last
When you didn't realise what the future had in store
As life has simply moved by you too fast
Goodbye is more versatile than we ever give it credit
We put much burden on the shoulders of this sound
So, until and if we meet again, please don't forget it
How much a goodbye can mean when it's around ***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/01/goodbyes.html

This is today.

You're experiencing it live.

Front row tickets.

Now what will you see....

This is today,

Not yesterday, that's done and over with

No replay, so let's make it different. I saw it first hand

I say, yesterday, is old news.

This it today,

Not tomorrow, we're not ready yet

We come gracefully towards it soon. But for now

Let's have some grounding in the present

This is today,

Your whole life has been leading here, you know

That hole in your timeline is now filled. It is

Your soul, your flow. Your current.

This is today,

Though I've said this before, it's never the same tone

To strive to understand that in this moment. Only now

Are we alive, to experience today.

***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/01/this-is-today.html

I pledge to listen more this coming year.
What if I agree with someone on an issue?
I will listen carefully to how we agree, in the hope that they can further my understanding and nuance, and find more wonder in what I already enjoy.
What if someone is passionate about something I am not?
I will listen to understand their passion, either to further it in them, or to elicit it in myself. Just maybe, the spark of a new interest may burn. I will not put someone down for having different interests to myself.
What if we disagree?
I will assume the disagreement is because of a well-thought out structure. I will endeavour to take the same path they did, and understand their journey.
What if their ideas are dangerous?
I will seek to understand, before I seek to marginalise. Seek to help enlighten them, before I seek to blind them. It is possible I am wrong.
What if they're bored of me?
I will give people polite opportunities to leave, if I can. I will accept that, on the whole, I am bad at reading signals, and should always allow people a chance to get away.
And what if I'm bored?
I will seek to find interest, and something to spark mutual energy.
Mostly, I will try to find the best in people. Find why they live their lives, as they obviously live one I do not.
I will try.
For that is all I can do. ***

https://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-pledge.html

What is that boy, you've created something new?
Well that's fantastic, I'm so proud of you
With that last statement being so nearly true
To create is dangerous boy, did no one say?
You can't just make something then go on your way
You're invested now stay, see what I have to say
To create is risky, get out of this game
If you don't you'll feel naught but shame
For trying to stand out, not be the same
Trust me, this game you should not wish to play
So stop right now you'll receive no praise
Oh, much better to regret it for the rest of your days
Oh, you have spent so long,you haveworked so hard
You have overcome adversity when the way has been barred
Nowyou poured your heart into a creation, you are such a card
Because you think the difficult bit to be behind
Well, buckle up boy, you had better change your mind
Because that is not the reality that you are ever going to find
To create is risky, get out of this game
If you don't you'll feel naught but shame
For trying to stand out, not be the same
Trust me, this game you should not wish to play
So stop right now you'll receive no praise
Oh, much better to regret it for the rest of your days
Release your creation boy, your public await!
Put it out in the world and embrace the hate
Your trainings in station, so don't be late
What you've made is surely offensive
Or a copy or flawed so get apprehensive
You took the risk, now get on the defensive
To create is risky, get out of this game
If you don't you'll feel naught but shame
For trying to stand out, not be the same
Trust me, this game you should not wish to play
So stop right now you'll receive no praise
Oh, much better to regret it for the rest of your days
...
Dear Sir. I'm afraid I must ardently protest
See I know you're only saying what you know best
But I've found every creation is worth the invest
You get hit hard, I know that to be true
But every creation is just a reflection of you
Worth the perspiration for any person who enjoyed it too
To create is risky, but now I'm in this game
Sure I'll go through my fair share of shame
It's not because I'm trying to not be the same

What a beautiful thing is the monument in fate

To the strive and toil that marks this date

With the unique thing, existing only when you decided to create