Withering

[BiocideJ]

This is one of the favorite of my poems and i look forward to your comments.



Archimedes, Plato
Da Vinci, Ptolemy
Newton, Galileo
Aristotle, Socrates
Alexander, Charlemagne
Caesar, Genghis Khan
Time outwits the wisest brain
And defeats the greatest brawn

Zeus fell off his crumbled throne
Alexandria’s Lighthouse fell
Babylon’s Gardens are overgrown
The Colossus bowed as well
The Trojan wall, Titanic’s hull
And Babel’s grand estate
All of mans’ ambitious plans
Succumb to the same fate

History’s most exalted nations
Lie in the ruins of themselves
Their most profound creations
Lie unused on museum shelves
Tell me, what is there that exists
That time in turn won’t take
The hands of time are clenched like fists
Destroying all we make


Withering


The lives of mice and kings
Are but dust blown in the wind
Passing without any thing
To mark their start or end
Sand through the eye of an hourglass
Their brief lives hasten through
They glimmer briefly as they pass
Then disappear from view

Our lives are like an ocean wave
Which at first no force impedes
So thus we make an entry brave
But then timidly recede
Each succeeding generation
Rising and falling as the tide
Turbulent in their formation
But then reserved as they subside

Our lives are but a candle wick
Whose flame now standing proud
Will spend itself in hindsight quick
Then dimly flicker out
What an overwhelming shame
If all that men endeavor
Is but a momentary flame
That is extinguished then forever


Withering


So hold on tight to what you love
Enjoy it while you can
For soon time like a vagrant, gruff
Will steal it from your hand
The things that we now cherish
Everything that we call prized
Will all too quickly perish
In the blinking of an eye
The very lives we’re living
Are a drip within the sea
So enjoy them while they’re given
For soon they too will be
Withering

[divot]

Man might wither but deeds live on, they are left to judged by those that care. In most cases not to be repeated. For mans objectives remain subjective. It's a very well done poem indeed, a point left to debate.

[Bobby Del Boy]

After watching a tribute to Stevie Wonder the other night, I can't help thinking of his legacy and Martin Luther's. Legacy's never wither. Love your Poem.

[BiocideJ]

Gratuitously bumping this.

[RhymeLovingWriter]

People and things pass, but evidence of their choices and actions cause ripples in the time they live and beyond. All the more reason to do our best with the time we have.

[AlexandratheLate]

I can see why it's one of your favorites as the bible says at Isaiah 40:2 the nations are but a film of dust on the scales

job 14:2 He comes up like a blossom and then withers away;
He flees like a shadow and disappears.

but it's what we do with the amount of time we have. Nicely done in expressing the same futility all experience.

[lunar glide]

many thoughtful references and phrases. really great poem

[MHenry]

Seamless rhymes, timeless story, all returns to dust and withers, except eternity and infinity.

[Rhymeboy]

Excellent! Well done! BiocideJ I especially like this portion:

Zeus fell off his crumbled throne
Alexandria’s Lighthouse fell
Babylon’s Gardens are overgrown
The Colossus bowed as well