How to Live

[Mike Windu]

Yeah, so this is a weird thread, but I had to make a poem based off of Sharon Old's poem in which she says "I don't know how to live."

 

So like Charles Harper Webb, we were supposed to make a poem called "How to Live."

 

And I felt like sharing

 

How to Live

 

Play a game of Russian roulette, with a toy cap gun.

Speak in front of an audience while wearing a silly hat;

Have friends in the audience to clap for you.

Fly to Asia, Africa, Australia. Avoid the tours and explore.

Eat strange new dishes. (make sure they’re properly prepared)

 

Chase after a lover, compose a song, clear your mind

Of all thoughts, compare oranges in the farmer’s market, create an

Award winning painting, call an old friend, crunch food softly,

Camp outside a theater for tickets to your favorite show,

Cackle at a devious prank. (help the person afterwards)

 

Form a superhero team to tackle an imminent threat,

In your backyard. Lose yourself to acoustics and soft words.

Play outside when it’s raining, run through the woods, the city,

The next street down. Never be too old to slide down a slide,

Or swing on the swings. (try backflips off the swings)

 

Be the extra who dies in the movie,

Of a violent zombie death. Laugh and point

At the home movies you’ve created. Photograph

Everything, make a scrapbook of change. Share memories

With anyone who cares to listen. (remember their name)

 

Love, love, love. Tell the world. Extravagance

Only sweetens the outcome. Make best friends of all your friends.

Forgive them for their betrayals. Drink to them,

Be merry, laughter cleanses the soul.

Make Valentine’s Day, every day. (don’t buy gifts)

 

Don’t pursue silence; be content with raucous laughter,

Stop worrying. Stop worrying. Stop worrying.

Order is nonexistent, bask in the chaos. Trust your luck, trust yourself

Play dead if you’re hit, in a dart gun war. Wait for the next game to start.

Roll the die. (decide for yourself whether or not to blow)

 

Be envious that you could not help first, then forget envy and help anyway,

Learn to fly, look good in what you wear, night’s just upside down day.

Dance to the funk and fire, cool yourself off with water.

See the world in a different light. (buy some 3-D glasses)

 

Listen to those who speak of death, and remind them of life.

Lay beside them on a hill and stare at the sky,

Lift a finger, touch the sky.

Live every single day.

Everything’s all right in the end. (have a wonderful life)

 

This was originally going to be way darker, especially because of the Russian roulette thing, but I'm a happy person with very little dark tendencies...

[Ray Jones]

Where's the rhyme?

[Spider AL]

I'm not the biggest fan of free verse in the known universe; I generally regard it as the crutch of the lazy, very much like modern art.

 

But I have to say, I found your poem quite uplifting, and superior in order and structure to the original. And frankly, I agree with the sentiments more too.

 

With the qualification that I consider the line "Everything’s all right in the end" to be factually inaccurate, I laud your poetic effort unreservedly.

[IG-64]

Sounds pretty good.

 

Only thing I don't like, is the "love. love. love." part. Makes it sound a bit like a coffee club.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

The title of the thread reminded me of a course at MIT's SPLASH program this past weekend, "How to be awesome".

[RoxStar]

Where's the rhyme?

 

 

Not all who wander are lost, and not all poems must rhyme.

[IG-64]

Not all who wander are lost

My sister has a bumper sticker of that on her car. Tolkien FTW.

[coupes.]

That's pretty good Mikey !

 

It reminded me very much of this video :

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/277085/everyone_must_see_this/

[Mike Windu]

Thanks to all who replied, and special thanks to Spider Al for making his reply a scholarly critique and still managing to make me feel great

 

I generally believe in karma, so that explains my last line. What you get comes to you eventually. (in this life or in heaven/afterlife/etc)