Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity.
quote by Robert Louis Stevenson
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After The Poems What Will Be For Me?
After the poems, what will be for me?
I am now wholly in them
But they are not as good
As I dreamed
And I as a poet am not the answer to my own ambition.
Will it be ‘Stories’ next?
And then on to ‘Aphoristic reflections’ Pascal- like?
How will I do it?
Or will, as seems most likely now, how will I never do it?
I am the mediocre poet who is the mediocre writer who is the mediocre thinker who is mediocre in all he does
I am the mediocrity and my mediocrity makes me me.
Mediocre me- Pity pity the poor ambitious soul
Who would have been great, and is not.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity, and some people have mediocrity thrust upon them.
Joseph Heller in Catch-22
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
quote by Joseph Heller
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Unfinished Notes
I don't do accolades.
Like the ones who do it.
With the giving of them freely.
I've been wounded too many times,
By the telling of explicit truths.
And when I realized this done,
Had been to discourage me...
From my pursuits,
Only then did I become serious.
With a choosing I could prove,
To myself 'first' with a doing.
I needed to achieve my best.
And not leave behind unfinished notes,
I wrote to suggest I made attempts...
To appease the ease of an outgrowing I felt,
Of an accepted mediocrity I knew too well.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Little Discourage
I found a mountain on my own (I'm encouraged)
Trust history to say it's unknown (It's discouraging)
There's a seventeen contest in my own home (Discourage)
Sick of seventeen contests in my own home (Discourage)
Don't cross the road, you're under a spell
A broken violin (Discourage)
Don't cross the road, you're under a spell
Of broken violins
But all I need is a little discourage
All I need is a little discourage
All I need is a little discourage
All I need is a little discourage
All I need is a little discourage
I ran away from my own telephone (Discourage)
It rings to tell you what the future holds in store, so.....
There's a lack of confidence at home (Discourage)
When a seventeen contest fills your own home (Discourage)
Put your trust in courage, no one can tell
The broken violin
All I need is a little discourage
(The world knows what I need, but it's proving far too hard for me
song performed by by Idlewild
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I May Well Be A Mediocrity
I MAY WELL BE A MEDIOCRITY
I may well be a mediocrity
One who tries and tries
But never really inspires-
I may well be one of the many
Called but not chosen-
I may be more another small unimportant disturbance
Than one whose work is of real meaning and value-
I may well be a mediocrity
And an ultimate nothing-
Whose words are now saved by a new technology
But will be dust forever -
I may well be a mediocrity
Despite wanting so much not to be-
I may well be a mediocrity
And probably am-
In which case I apologize
To the reader of this
If there is one
For taking your time.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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And If I Am A Mediocrity?
AND IF I AM A MEDIOCRITY?
And if I am a mediocrity?
And what I have written is not worthy of remembrance?
And if I belong to the great mass of those not good enough?
And if all I have done disappears as if it never were?
And I also?
Should I blame myself
Or simply say God made me not good enough?
Should I feel sad and a failure
Or simply resign myself to what is the case?
Should I protest in anger
Or simply go on meeting the obligations of my life
As best I can?
I know the answer.
Being the best person I can
Especially to those closest to me
Is what is most important.
Mediocre or not as a writer
I must try to be a decent human being-
This is what the service of God really means-
And this is what all of us can try to do,
Wherever we are in the world of work and accomplishment.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Hope, where are you?
Show me the fountain of hope
Show me the country called hope
Where are the soldiers of hope?
What are the prizes of hope?
What hope do wicked people have?
where is the the hope of smoke in the air?
the hope of ocean foam that
dissipates in the storm, beckons for explanation.
Wonder of the world, even birds flies through the air
but have no sign that it has been there.
so is the heroes of our time.
Labor of our heroes past
wallow in vain.
Songs of pain the trumpet sound while
the cities walled tainted by mediocrity
Desolation and depravity upon mediocrity
The order of the day
Hope, where are you?
The land is void of hope and good dreams
What hope lies for the slave,
in the kingdom of mediocre?
poem by Blessing Ekpe
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Mediocrity Is Not An Effort That Succeeds
I do not pursue a challenge with you.
No.
Not at all.
I am on a quest,
To outdo 'my' best!
And having me to critique,
My own efforts made...
I wouldn't wish this kind of pressure,
On anyone else.
You should hear some of the things I say!
I am too forgiving of others' attempts.
And much too strict...
When accepting what I believe,
Is a commitment to achieve...
What I deem for myself as 'sheer' mediocrity.
And mediocrity is not an effort that succeeds.
Not for me as a motivator,
Pushing towards a direction that pleases.
It is for me an acceptance of procrastination.
And I have already given myself accolades for that.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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People Mediocre Later Weep
Give up your best,
To the one you are sure will catch it.
Don't just give it up...
To anyone who 'might' fetch it!
Give up your best,
To the one you are sure will catch it.
Don't just give it up...
To anyone who 'might' fetch it!
People undecided don't know what it is they want.
So don't give up your best...
To anyone to fetch,
It.
People mediocre will choose anything to flaunt,
Without a knowing what they want.
Thinking anything that gleems,
Is a 'keeper'.
People undecided don't know what it is they want.
So don't give up your best...
To anyone to fetch,
It.
Give up your best,
To the one you are sure will catch it.
Don't just give it up...
To anyone who 'might' fetch it!
People mediocre will choose anything to flaunt,
Without a knowing what they want.
Thinking anything that gleems,
Is a 'keeper'...
To later weep.
People mediocre will choose anything to flaunt,
Without a knowing what they want...
To later weep.
In their misery.
People mediocre,
Later weep...
Without a sleeping.
People mediocre,
Later weep.
People mediocre,
Can not sleep.
And...
People mediocre often weep,
In their misery.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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That bedrock faith that I could write was what blinded me to attempts to discourage me.
quote by Lynn Abbey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Not Going To Be Mistaken As Chopped Liver
This is something,
People find very difficult to understand...
When opportunities are given,
Upfront and personal!
They do not return.
Or come back with attempts to influence.
The mission is to 'give'.
Not to convince.
In fact,
If slighted...
One will never know,
How they are connected...
Those misunderstood opportunities.
Especially,
After they have been evaluated...
As not being beneficial to anyone.
'Excuse me?
Who do I think I am?
Uh...a local resident of this place.
Why? '
Does this need further clarification?
And that can be applied to people as well.
Perceiving someone not to be qualified,
To achieve a task OR deliver to another...
A 'key' to their achievement.
Because of some pre-conceived notion...
One will only pay attention to someone,
Who 'looks' and 'acts' a certain way.
You know...
Someone seen on TV?
And 'not' a neighbor,
Busted for selling crack.
Some people will talk about that,
For the rest of their lives.
Or they may 'live' in a certain environment...
Where nothing but mediocrity is praised.
And everyone in it is dismissable?
'I don't know why they are 'here'.
And not in LA.
Or New York City.
Especially doing what they do!
What a waste.
I'm going to move to Atlanta...
Where I've heard the opportunities really are.'
This outlook,
Can be extremely detrimental.
ESPECIALLY...
If someone deemed useless,
Has chosen a familiar environment...
To exist and develop their own sense of happiness.
You know...
Do 'their' thing AND excell.
People just may have a gold mine,
Right under their turned up noses.
And gold,
Ultimately...
Is not going to be mistaken,
As chopped liver.
Wherever one decides to reside.
Even in a place where the main activity,
Happens to be self loathing.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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I Am Not Proud Of Being A Mediocrity
I AM NOT PROUD OF BEING A MEDIOCRITY
I am not proud of being a mediocrity-
But if I am
Does this mean
I should stop writing forever?
Does it mean I should spend the rest of my life
In bitter angry lament?
If I am a mediocrity
And chances are good that I am
Then perhaps I should just try to live with it
And understand
The only one who's time will be wasted
And who will give attention to all this writing I have done
Is me.
Mediocrity or not,
I can still try to be a fairly decent human being.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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A Mediocre Man
I'm just a mediocre man
Of no high-brow pretence;
A comfortable life I plan
With care and commonsense.
I do the things most people do,
I echo what they say;
And through my morning paper view
The problems of the day.
No doubt you think I'm colourless,
Profoundly commonplace;
And yet I fancy, more or less,
I represent the race.
My name may stand for everyone,
At least for nine in ten,
For all in all the world is run
By mediocre men.
Of course you'll maybe not agree
That you are average,
And unlike ordinary me
You strut your little stage,
Well, you may even own a Bank,
And mighty mergers plan,
But Brother, doff your tile and thank
The Mediocre Man.
poem by Robert William Service
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God as now generally conceived of is only the last witch.
quote by Samuel Butler
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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There Comes A Time
There comes a time,
When something believed cute done...
Loses its cuteness and begins to irritate.
There comes a time,
When expectations rise above mediocrity.
And the acceptance of those who choose to do,
Mediocre things on a continuous basis...
With a losing of mediocrity as something 'cool'.
And from it there is a backing off,
With a recognition of it too!
There comes a time,
When a rudeness to another done...
Has to be confronted,
By the one who no longer finds this cute!
And a introducing to maturity,
From someone who knows it for what it is...
Does not hesitate to keep it patiently,
In a safe place without it being shown fact to face.
There comes a time,
When one who finds being mature...
Has to offend those who find immaturity,
Difficult for them to escape.
And...
There comes a time,
When those who have lost themselves...
Reciting nursery rhymes with comfort,
With a whining done from their limited minds...
Must be left behind.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Pockets
Are generally over or around
Erogenous zones, they seem to dive
In the direction of those
Dark places, and indeed
It is their nature to be dark
Themselves, keeping a kind
Of thieves' kitchen for the things
Sequestered from the world
For long or little while,
The keys, the handkerchiefs,
The sad and vagrant little coins
That are really only passing through.
For all they locate close to lust,
No pocket ever sees another;
There is in fact a certain sadness
To pockets, going in their lonesome ways
And snuffling up their sifting storms
Of dust, tobacco bits and lint.
A pocket with a hole in it
Drops out; from shame, is that, or pride?
What is a pocket but a hole?
poem by Howard Nemerov
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Be ambitious
Be ambitious
But, cautiously
Keeping in view
The nature and extent
Of your strengths
And after weighing
Your weaknesses
Be ambitious of
Harnessing strengths of others
For raising a human race
For collective growth and
Harmonious co-existence
Not of developing a mass
For a mad and unquestioned following
Be ambitious
Of becoming something yourself
Not of becoming a owner
Of material significance
Be ambitious
Of evolving new values to life
Not of adding values
To things in your possession
Be ambitious
Of helping others
Realize new dimensions of existence
Not of helping them
Just to exist
Be ambitious
Of bringing more and more
Into your affectionate bond of love
Not of keeping others
Into your fold because of fear for you
Or favour from you
Be ambitious of
Knowing yourself better
Not of making others
Understand you better
Be ambitious of
Becoming a model human being
For others to emulate
Not of copying or emulating
Someone’s model
Be ambitious of
Being special
Not of forcing others
To feel that you are special
Be ambitious of
Leaving a mark of yourself
On the community you belong to
Resisting the community
Stamp on you
Its symbols, myths, dogmas
And less established faiths
Simply,
Be ambitious of
Becoming a beloved
Compassionate and
Complete human being
poem by Bashyam Narayanan
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People say it's not ambitious, but it is actually quite ambitious wanting to help people.
quote by Prince William
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