Duly Noted
Duly noted, no one voted
And the Mantis sat upon the bar
Gazing at the gal who wanted to be a star
“Whisky and Water,” he ordered
And that is the disordered life
Glugging and chugging, instead of planting a flag
Wishing instead of working,
Just drinking and shirking
In a slur the Mantis demanded, “Another double!”
Here comes trouble!
And a bubbly blonde sidled up to him
“Come here often?” she asked with a grin
“Hmmm,” responded the Mantis, wiping his chin
And then he let out a sober shout
“It’s hollow if that’s all there is.”
“We can do better through will, if the will is His!”
At that moment the bar went silent
Sad eyes and sagging faces focused upon him
“We want to win with spirit and grace,
Yet look at us, we’ve become a sloppy disgrace.”
And with that the assembled knew
They knew what they had to do
Booze was poured onto the floor
Then, slowly, one by one, they walked out the door
Months passed and no one reentered
The Mantis was seen out on a run
Moving quickly and carefree
Having fun under the sun
Other denizens of that saloon made changes too
Some did tai chi, others knitted
Some did feats of daring do
Yet, and this is big, they all improved at what they did
So friends, heed the call
You don’t need to be talented
You don’t need to be ten feet tall
Just go after your goal, rather than soak your precise Soul!
Image courtesy of [Sweet Crisis] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
*Authors note: You might see this column pop up online in a newspaper, under the name Both Sides. I am publishing this column here first at CYInterview.com. For a bunch of years, I have been writing newspaper columns. Since my columns have received a good response on CYInterview, I thought I would share it with you. Hope you enjoy.
You can reach me with your questions and comments at Jay@CYinterview.com Like today’s column? Check back frequently.