Wednesday, January 21, 2015

A Student’s Lament--By Tom Davis--United States

A Student’s Lament

I’ve always liked Dickinson’s
“Success Is Counted Sweetest”
I’d think about those things
For which I’d the greatest need
And how marvelous it would be
If I could just succeed.

Then my English teacher assigned
This poem for us to read
Find the meter and alliteration,
Note the similes and personification,
Inversion to look for, assonance to find
Consonance, metaphors, and scheme of rhyme.
Tell the mood, explain the theme.
And then she asked, “What does this mean?”

We finally finished
And I no longer dared
To achieve success;
But what was worse,
I didn’t even care.

In his younger years, Tom Davis served as a Special Force Combat Diver. It seems to him that he spent more time on, in, and under the water than as a landlubber. This and other adventures he has written about in his memoir, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March From Private to Colonel. http://www.oldmp.com/davismemoirs

4 comments:

  1. I LOVED IT!! What wonderful write. I very much enjoyed it and thank you for sharing your talent.
    Charlene

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  2. Nice poem, Tom. Thank you for sharing and continued blessings!

    -MJ (www.tgbtgpublictions.com)

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  3. Tom: To use a cliche, "you hit the nail on the head." The beauty of a poem is felt by the reader, whether through imagery, vivid words compiled in illiteration, aliteration and any other "ation." Poetry can be sliced and diced for critical purposes and for learning purposes, but it is like music--either it sounds lovely to the listener or it doesn't. Thank you.

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  4. Good write from you here Tom..' enjoyed the conglomeration your intent and aspiration..'

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