Cafe Lament

Self portrait

What was it made this place so great

in the days so long gone now

For me it was competition

that kept the sweat upon my brow

 

Some would like to make you believe

that a blazing competition

Is something you should all avoid

as if the fires were perdition

 

We do ourselves a disservice

claiming competition is greed

By leveling the playing field

why would we struggle, stress or bleed

 

Without the trying forge of pain

that angst and toil bring to our lives

There just is no reason to work

on all the wonders that it drives

 

Competition is what rules life

both in nature and creation

It is what made this country great

sowing seeds of our foundation

 

I for one think we are poorer

having lost the edge to excel

Whereby what we once called heaven

has become our personal hell

 

Don’t wonder where your friends have gone

it’s just they miss the old cafe

A refuge from life’s petty fights

where they could kindly spend their day

 

$12.50

$12.50

Author's Note

I once asked little Drake Cooper how his soccer team was doing."Terrible" He said."I go to Montisory for gifted students.laughs Yea he said the problem is we aren't allowed to say anything to the guys who won't play hard. For fear they will develop syndromes". Sad isn't it we cannot ask excellence of our children or demand it of ourselves for fear it might cause issues. The truth is excellence is hard work and those who are willing to undertake it reap its benefits. 1 part inspiration 99 parts perspiration. As a horseman competition was the lifeblood of my life. It is such a shame that we once were so engaged in the job of excellence that we actually kissed the moon. Nowadays we are content it would seem to leave our children to the mercy of the mean streets. Corporate America has no mercy for those who fall behind. Neither does nature. We were once the preeminent writing site. That because we demanded excellence from each other. I for one do not believe finishing 3rd is winning. We do our children a real disservice by awarding them trophies for participation. It is for those who struggle sweat and persevere to be honored for their accomplishments and write their name on the wall of human achievement. What will we do in the future? Will we continue to look back to the days when we went to the moon with no more than a slide rule? Or will we build on those accomplishments by sacrificing for the future generations in the hope they too will kindle the flame of human curiosity to slip the surly bonds of earth put out their hand and touch the face of God?

Reviews

[David Lewis Paget]

Never a truer word spoken, Tate. So very noticeable in schools these days that the competitive nature has been deliberately blunted so that under achievers won't feel a sense of failure. Unfortunately, as against that view, the world out there is a marketplace where everyone jostles for success and recognition, and if you're not prepared for it, then fail you will. They're doing our kids a disservice by neutralising their competitive spirit.

[Einstein Noodle]

i'm glad i found this one Tate! I have not had the misfortune to have had to experience this sort of bickering over poetry ...
i love the broader implications of your poem ...so surprised coming from the Sander's group of things .. hurrah for excellence ... bring on the biggest and baddest and we'll have a face down wrestling go at it! ;) i am an introvert and have found my challenges all within ..luckily i also found a fine profession in Nursing in which one can still excel without embracing corporate competitions ..which are there for those that like that sort of thing ..i am here for personal reasons but have entered a few of the competitions .. for me it is good natured fun and gives me another idea of how things i write effect others .. vive la difference! Hurra de l'excellence! Tate! there is hope for you as a conservative yet! ;)))
E.

[Fran Marie]

we all strive to be the best we can be...it's only human nature to compete not only with each other , we owe to ourselves as well to excel and have ambition/ incentive to go forward in life..great write, Tate

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i feel the only competition in poetry is that battle within ourselves to better our own writing, to push ourselves to the limit....be the absolute best writers we can be.

not into contests or such...just that we inspire each other to write really good poetry.

[Benita-Staebell M - Kin..]

hate or a negative Comment I ignore but it also
Motivates me it Pushes me to keep going and trying
and the good comments I don't allow them to give me
a over sized head So I just take them as Motivation.



You're a very Talented writer don't let other words
push you down some can become Jealous I have noticed
this some feel this way towards my husband and these are
strangers it is because he has me and so much more but I just
ignore Negative people.


And you're a Great Father as I can see and
you speak it in your words and how you express
things so much wisdom and love in your words always.



Thank you for sharing this piece very well understood
and thank you for your kind review and comment you
let on my page.


Blessings. kindred poet

[Me]

Great poem that I enjoyed very much.

[melissa]

As you can tell i am a huge fan of your poems i love them keep up the great work and keep them coming

[Josie E. Cook M. A.]

I love the drawing and the last stanza!

[Nativespirit]

Competition is a good thing, if left to nurture on its own. It's when other try to even the field that it gets nasty. I raised four sons, born within four years of each other, and as I watched and witnessed different attitudes on several venues of competition, I marveled at how individuality displayed itself, although all were raised in the same arena. Choice, desire, dreams, all players on the field of life.

[Joyce S. Greene]

How do the contests that were once on this site different from the ones here now? I'm a bit confused. I write to have fun and laugh when I can but if there's a contest that sounds like fun or really worth-while, I'll join in. Writing is my hobby, not my job, and when it becomes a job, then I really don't want to do it and my Muse loses interest in me. (Not a good thing at all!) My real job is draining and taking on another one is a burden. Maybe others can handle that level of stress, but I can't. Thanks for a thought provoking and well written poem, Tate.

[Raya]

Urggggg. Since this is such, opinion wise, a touchy subject I will stick to the technical aspects. Everything flowed well and had nice meter and rhyme. Well done, Tate. Also I admire saying something about the touchy subject, probably full well knowing there would be an opinion difference. Keep writing