you can’t go to a store and buy it
it doesn’t come neatly prepackaged
like a commodity
Experience comes with the school of hard knocks
like a scratched knee
there’s no magical pills to replace it
it’s a matter of your history
Author: Dave Stancliff
Retired newspaper editor/publisher, Vietnam veteran, freelance writer, blogger. Married 51 years. A sense of humor. Defender of truth. Give my poems, essays and short stories a read. I look forward to feedback. Write on!
Goat Olympics
the competitors stood before the sheer cliff
stirring nervously
nimble hoofs shuffling silently
as they waited for the event to begin
their coats wet from rain
their goal to win
no path to show the way
during the sheer climb
that would take all day
but the mighty goats
looking to become
the greatest of all time
do it for the glory
that treacherous climb
to crown a champion
in the Goat Olympics
gaining fame for all time
Traveling Time
pack your bag and let’s go
it’s traveling time
don’t ya know?
It doesn’t matter
where we go
what country we see
or chateau
it’s about the adventure
don’t ya know?
escape your status quo
in exotic lands
or a hidden archipelago
the decision is yours
don’t ya know?
Outside The Box
I climbed out of the box one day
unafraid of what people would say
leaving behind conventions
with good intentions
gone astray
The Snail Summit
the big snail summit was finally held in June
shelled gastropods gathered from around the world
hosting conferences under the light of the moon
It was a slow moving affair
but everyone who was there
agreed it was a boon
the land snails
the sea snails
and the freshwater snails
left behind happy trails
sluggishly sliming home
to their safety zone
looking forward to next year
when it would be time to reappear
Rethinking Everything
an upheaval of the mind can be
a terrible thing to see
where beliefs are challenged
by realities
false histories
stripped away
ideologies
in disarray
falsehoods
exposed
in the light of day
the shock
almost too much
to bear
but wears away
when enlightenment
dawns
on the mind’s
new day
The Storyteller’s Warning
gather ’round you ogres, trolls, fairies, wizards, elves, and giants, for I have a story to tell…
your days are numbered by the emergence of mankind
your histories will become mysteries until the end of time
your lives reduced to children’s fables and tales
where mankind is the hero who always prevails
so gather around my children and we’ll pretend
that this isn’t your end
Coffee in the Morning
I move through my mornings like a sloth awakening
from a coma
mindlessly groping for my fix which is beckoning
to me
the need for comfort and warmth
from my first cup of coffee
the smell of that savory brew
invigorates me through and through
the burst of energy it gives is a pleasure
every day
when I imbibe my liquid measure
of coffee – my morning mainstay
The Onion’s Obituary
it wasn’t so long ago on a beautiful spring day
that a yellow onion was planted in fertile ground
giving it a dark and warm place to stay
for a 100 days
but a time came
when the yellow onion was game
for a cook with seasoning intentions
to make culinary inventions
so it was plucked from the ground
without a sound
and carried into the cook’s kitchen
where it was awaited by a chicken
that needed seasoning
and the reasoning
was it would add flavor
making it a meal to savor
but copious tears were shed that day
while peeling it’s life away
as stated in the onion’s obituary
Vino Veritas
with the god’s favorite libation
there is much celebration
led by a smiling Bacchus
and his observation
that there is truth in wine
that imbibing is fine
and it’s okay to drink anytime
The Creative Chronicles of Dave Stancliff 