Friday, January 30, 2009

C - Milestones

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My hundredth ricketty rhyme! A milestone, of sorts.


Milestones

Humans are the only beasts
Who punctuate their lives with feasts.*
Milestones to the passing ages
They calibrate our lifespan into stages.

In early days, they are quite near:
One day, one week, one month, one year,
First smile, first tooth, first real word,
The day a cautious step occurred.

Beyond the years, our life is pursed
In graduations, weddings, twenty firsts.
But soon there comes an awful truth
As people sense their failing youth.

Many folk find they cannot handle
The every growing blaze of candle
And so, finding their age to be a trial,
Decide to stay one age a while.

But still the non-time marks accrue
A testament to the things we do.
As living broadens, teaches, strengthens,
So the list of things done lengthens.

Towards the end, as life unravels,
Savour the milestones of your travels.
They all rejoice your life, save one:
That last milestone is a grave one.

◊◊◊

*Granted, dogs and cats can scarce conceal
They pace their life from meal to meal
But once the meal has been consumed
The next meal countdown is resumed.

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© J Cosmo Newbery
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14 comments:

  1. Well let me be the first to congratulate you on your 100th poem! As always, a delight to read.

    And I just realized that in addition to all the different types of poetry forms that I am learning from you, I am learning my Roman Numerals too. (I did realize they were Roman Numerals before ... but didn't know C was 100 ... I just kind of blithely read along and didn't realize you were approaching this milestone.)

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  2. Happy 100th! You did it proud... as always :)

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  3. When do you reckon you will reach M?

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  4. Lovely,rollicking rhythm!

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  5. Quite a milestone j cosmo, congratulations on your 100th poem.
    And what a great poem it is too, it reminds me of a letter I wrote to my daughter on the day she left home,recalling highlights in her life. ♥

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  6. Great poem J Cosmo - there seems to be a similar theme in the blogosphere at the moment - about the passing of time. And yes, you're so right about us dogs:)

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  7. happy 100th milestone!

    you know .. i kind of live from meal countdown to meal countdown too ..

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  8. Congratulations! What an opus!! Your poems keep getting better and better. Loved this one... "Savor the milestones of your travel..." so optimistic. Could be millstones for some of us... ;)

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  9. Wow, congrats on number 100! Another great one, of course. And I wish we didn't always celebrate with meals. They taste delicious... but tend to stick with me a little too long! :)

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  10. marvelous poem. i think i will have your write my epitaph. but...not just yet.

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  11. Cosmo- 100 poems! Bravo :)
    And big hugs for your sweet words this morning- between you and the sunset I can't imagine anything more a lady might need...well, a good wine of course ;)

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  12. Hi! I'm back again. Just wanted you to know that I gave you an award over at my place (it has some strings attached but I think you will like them). It has to do with poetry...which I know is like catnip to you! : )

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  13. Congratulations on 100! That is a milestone. I really like your poem. It moves at a brisk pace, like life itself. And the humor in it is great! I found your blog through Jenners' blog and I'm so glad I did!

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  14. A century. Well done.
    As for milestones: I'll tell you mine: I'm still only twenty-nine ;-)
    [again and again and again..]

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