Pascal's wager

Does God exist, or does he not?
A coin toss shows you what you've got:
If "heads" comes up, you've won it all;
If you get "tails," you take the fall.
There is no other choice for you;
You have to bet, and so, you do.

September

September seemed far off, back then, in May,
And May was when we had a lot to do,
A life to fill, with love, and work, and play,
And goals to meet, before our time was through.
We played the game as fairly as we could,
With more wins than losses to remember.
Time sped more quickly than we thought it would,
And before we knew, it was September.
Now shadows lengthen as the days roll by,
And leaves are brittle, as they fall to earth,
The breeze is colder, now that winter's nigh,
Warm days are gone, and we regret their dearth.
The cold will soon prevail, but then the spring
Will come, renewing - almost everything.

The future is now

When I retired, I made a vow;
Forget the future, live for now.
The fickle years fly by too fast;
Who knows which one will be the last?

When I still worked, I donned a suit
Before I made each day's commute.
Today, my suits are in disuse,
And I don't polish any shoes.

Also, I sport a full grey beard
Where once my naked face appeared,
I relish all the time I've saved,
Once wasted by me when I shaved.

Be wary of the Kraken

The Kraken is a giant squid
Who waits for prey once he's well-hid
Somewhere upon the ocean floor,
According to old sailing lore.

When he wants food, he'll seldom fail
To snag an unsuspecting whale,
And happy if he wins the fight,
He'll fill his belly for that night.

Ships that want to save their bacon
Must avoid the wily Kraken;
His tentacles will never slip
If they surround a passing ship.

He'll drag it down beneath the waves
Where other ships lie in their graves.
He's doom to ships that sail too slow;
Beware! The Kraken lurks below.

Land of opportunity blues

I had a good career, but I don't miss the grind; it's done.
Retired, my time's my own, and I use it to have fun.
But, I'm sad for graduates today, their careers can't start;
They're still at home, with mom and dad, it almost breaks my heart.
They drank the Kool-Aid, studied hard, and now they get to see
No jobs are out there in this "land of opportunity."

There are some jobs available, and stuff that they can do,
Like selling burgers, or ice cream, but even those are few,
Or retail sales, like selling clothes, at stores inside the mall;
That beats the aggravation, when they never get a call
For jobs they were trained to do, which is why they went to school;
They walked the walk, and talked the talk, and now they're played the fool.

To hear the sounds

Songs lack for music when unsung,
Bells never toll when they're unrung;
Poems have a voice, and must be heard;
Say them aloud, but sing the words.

The politician

Every slippery politician
Holds a partisan position,
But he'll soften it with euphemism
To hide his blatant party-ism.

He'll sweet-talk voters very well
To sell stuff that he's told to sell,
And he'll strive to gain affection,
Always seeking re-election.

His wealthy owners let him know
Without their cash, he'd have to go,
So he parrots lines they taught him
And talks fast; that's why they bought him.