Mortality, a poem

A Poem by R. Grieves

The world is spinning and I'm not winning
     Oh, Dear, what should I do?
Time is flying; I'm gradually dying,
     And yet I have so much to do.

Life is waning, though I try to keep on gaining
     Trying to reverse the effects of age
It's best not to fight it, but life—just invite it.
     For in the end we will get our wage.

The wage, says the Bible, for sinning is death
Yet sinning or not, with each drawn breath
     from birth we begin to die.
Knowing that, I would live in each minute
Noticing, cherishing all that is in it
    And not for the unknown future cry.

Life, Really?

LIFE DOES END
by R. Grieves

Life, they say, is for the living,
but it's such an illusive thing.
They say that life's is ever giving,
With the daily "presents" it does bring.

I will not argue that it's not true,
But what of the future and the past
And why must death be our just due?
If life's so great, why can't it last?

Do I sound bitter? Well I am sad.
From seeing loved ones gone.
For most, their ends were very bad
A most unpleasant moving on.

No matter how long since they've been dead
I miss them everyday.
And there are some, I know, will dread
The day death ends my stay.

Could I choose, I would not go.
For loved ones and work, I'd stay,
But the poor, unhappy plan,
Has taken my choice away.  

Night Life

Night Life, by Janet Muirhead Hill

A whole nother life, I live you see
When I am sleeping peacefully
A life of which I've not control
And yet I live there, heart and soul.

I immerse myself in what's going on
Until I wake, and then it's gone.
A dream journal, I do not keep
I just enjoy the life I have in sleep,

Adventures of all kinds and places
Known only in dreams: great open spaces
Houses with a million rooms
Nooks and crannies the size of tombs.

Sometimes I'm driving in a car
Or walking naked on a lonely bar.
Horses, birds and mythical creatures
Talk to me; become my teachers

I enjoy the life I live at night
Which slowly fades with the morning light.
For it takes some time when I awake
To determine which life is mine to make.

Resolutions

New Years Resolutions, by R. Grieves

New Year's resolutions?
Not making them this year,
For in mere months, sometimes days
I break them, that is clear.

Instead I'm setting goals
That are possible to achieve.
Things I want that I can control,
If only I believe.

I'm shunning rules full of don'ts
or promises I cannot keep
Like don't eat that, you will get fat.
Work harder; get more sleep.

Clean your houses and organize,
Be careful what you eat.
Instead I set this goal for me:
Be kind to everyone I meet.

And when it comes daily tasks
I'll give my very best
But will not flagellate myself
 If it seems I failed the test.

Sure, my days are numbered.
That's how it's always been
But I am here, and this is now
I'll live the day I'm in.