NOWHERE SAFE

Years of travel got me here
high above the turmoil and the strife;
safe, I think, with those held dear
the high point of a hard , hard life.

So here I sit on a cliff's edge
the world of worries far below
free feet dangling from the ledge
listening to the thin wind blow.

Yet now that I've attained my goal
why has peace of mind been rent?
Why no contentment in my soul?
Why does it seem all things are bent?

I guess as far as I have gone
I'm not insulated from the world
which can no longer be depended on
to love my flag when it's unfurled?

Now instead of peace of mind
I worry for young folks I hold dear
for all troubles I thought I'd left behind
are in sight and growing ever more near.

About This Poem

Style/Type: Structured: Western

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft

About the Author

Region, Country: South Carolina, United States, USA

Favorite Poets: Frost

This user supports Neopoet so it can be free to all

Comments

Get out of my head sir! This

Get out of my head sir! This piece exactly captures where I feel I am most days. I worry about the future of my young nieces and nephew - such a different world they are growing up in - yikes!

Like these lines especially:
"Why no contentment in my soul?
Why does it seem all things are bent?"

Nits:
- Capitalize the "i" 3rd line, first stanza
- Consider using "the" in between "all troubles"

Good stuff, and thanks for sharing!

Best

It often seems that things can't get any worse.......then they do lol. I did a quick edit before reading your comment and already caught the capital I mistake. As to the "the" thing I'll think it over.Thanks for the visit and eagle eye

Hi Ted

Yeah the odor IS powerful lol. I guess we do worry for our children's future but with the way things are now perhaps the worry is warranted

I like the...

idea of using the cliff and a high place to look down from. It makes the scene all the more visible. Looking down from where you thought you were safe from the worries of the world; you find that now, you worry for those that come after you. I too, worry for my children and the younger generation. But I have confidence that they will prevail, just as we have. Don't sell them short! Our father's generation dealt with the perils of the world and so too, have we. The next generation will see beyond the lies and greed of those who wish to enrich themselves at the expense of the rest. Don't forget, we are a nation of only a little over two hundred years old. There are many others, that are far older than us and yet have so much farther to go. This is indeed, the Grand Experiment! I hold many of the same reservations of this administration that you and others do, but I do perceive that we are trying and will succeed in making this a better nation~ Geez.
.

Hi Geeze

You are a yankee who I'm always glad to see lol. Yep the next generation will somehow make its own way. But is still worry that their elitist leaders are leading them over a cliff. Thanks for the visit and stay warm up there where the wendigo dwells lol

The world is an unsafe place,

The world is an unsafe place, what with Covid-19 and other fatal diseases, nuclear weapons and the insane expenditure on military force by some nations, bigotry and racism, violence and crime, political bitterness, poverty and most important of all, the threat posed by climate change.

Let's hope a call for common sense, humility and unity will prevail.