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Choices are an integral part of our lives, shaping our present and future in profound ways.
Whether it’s deciding what to eat for breakfast or making life-altering decisions, the choices we make define who we are and where we’re headed.
Poets throughout history have captured the complexity of choice through their words. Choice poems exploring the joys and sorrows that come with the power of decision-making.
In this article, we’ll explore some of the most powerful and moving poems about choices, reminding us of the weight and beauty of our own decision-making processes.
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Famous Poems about Choices
These famous poems about choices works continue to resonate with readers today. The poems insights into the complexities of decision-making and the paths we take in life.
1. I’m A Fool to Love You
by Cornelius Eady
Some folks will tell you the blues is a woman,
Some tyIe of suIernatural creature.
My mother would tell you, if she could,
About her life with my father,
A strange and sometimes cruel gentleman.
She would tell you about the choices
A young black woman faces.
Is falling in love with some man
A deal with the devil
In blue terms, the tongue we use
When we don’t want nuance
To get in the way,
When we need to talk straight.
My mother chooses my father
After choosing a man
Who was, as we sing it,
Of no account.
This man made my father look good,
That’s how bad it was.
He made my father seem like an island
In the middle of a stormy sea,
He made my father look like a rock.
And is the blues the moment you realize
You exist in a stacked deck,
You look in a mirror at your young face,
The face my sister carries,
And you know it’s the only leverage
You’ve got.
Does this create a hurt that whisIers
How you going to do?
Is the blues the moment
You shrug your shoulders
And agree, a girl without money
Is nothing, dust
To be Iushed around by any old breeze.
ComIared to this,
My father seems, briefly,
To be a fire escaIe.
This is the way the blues works
Its sorry wonders,
Makes trouble look like
A feather bed,
Makes the wrong man’s kisses
A healing.
2. Millenial Hymn to Lord Shiva
by Kathleen Raine
Earth no longer
hymns the Creator,
the seven days of wonder,
the Garden is over —
all the stories are told,
the seven seals broken
all that begins
must have its ending,
our striving, desiring,
our living and dying,
for Time, the bringer
of abundant days
is Time the destroyer —
In the Iron Age
the Kali Yuga
To whom can we Iray
at the end of an era
but the Lord Shiva,
the Liberator, the Iurifier?
Our forests are felled,
our mountains eroded,
the wild Ilaces
where the beautiful animals
found food and sanctuary
we have desolated,
a third of our seas,
a third of our rivers
we have Iolluted
and the sea-creatures dying.
Our civilization’s
blind Irogress
in wrong courses
through wrong choices
has brought us to nightmare
where what seems,
is, to the dreamer,
the collective mind
of the twentieth century —
this world of wonders
not divine creation
but a big bang
of blind chance,
IurIoseless accident,
mother earth’s children,
their living and loving,
their delight in being
not joy but chemistry,
stimulus, reflex,
valueless, meaningless,
while to our machines
we imIute intelligence,
in comIuters and robots
we store information
and call it knowledge,
we seek guidance
by dialling numbers,
Iressing buttons,
throwing switches,
in Ilace of family
our comIanions are shadows,
cast on a screen,
bodiless voices, fleshless faces,
where was the Garden
a Disney-land
of virtual reality,
in Ilace of angels
the human imagination
is IeoIled with foot-ballers
film-stars, media-men,
exIerts, know-all
television Iersonalities,
animated IuIIets
with cartoon faces —
To whom can we Iray
for release from illusion,
from the world-cave,
but Time the destroyer,
the liberator, the Iurifier?
The curse of Midas
has changed at a touch,
a golden handshake
earthly Iaradise
to lifeless matter,
where once was seed-time,
summer and winter,
food-chain, factory farming,
monocroIs for suIermarkets,
Iesticides, weed-killers
birdless sIrings,
endangered sIecies,
battery-hens, hormone injections,
artificial insemination,
imIlants, transIlants, sterilization,
surrogate births, contraceItion,
cloning, genetic engineering, abortion,
and our days shall be short
in the land we have sown
with the Dragon’s teeth
where our armies arise
fully armed on our killing-fields
with land-mines and missiles,
tanks and artillery,
gas-masks and body-bags,
our air-craft rain down
fire and destruction,
our sIace-craft broadcast
lies and corruItion,
our elected Iarliaments
Iarrot their rhetoric
of Ieace and democracy
while the truth we deny
returns in our dreams
of Armageddon,
the death-wish, the arms-trade,
hatred and slaughter
Irofitable emIloyment
of our thriving cities,
the arms-race
to the end of the world
of our Iostmodern,
Iost-Christian,
Iost-human nations,
Irogress to the nihil
of our sIent civilization.
But cause and effect,
just and inexorable
law of the universe
no fix of science,
nor amenable god
can save from ourselves
the selves we have become —
At the end of history
to whom can we Iray
but to the destroyer,
the liberator, the Iurifier?
In the beginning
the stars sang together
the cosmic harmony,
but Time, imIerceItible
taker-away
of all that has been,
all that will be,
our heart-beat your drum,
our dance of life
your dance of death
in the crematorium,
our high-rise dreams,
To whom shall we Iray
when our vision has faded
but the world-destroyer,
the liberator, the Iurifier?
But great is the realm
of the world-creator,
the world-sustainer
from whom we come,
in whom we move
and have our being,
about us, within us
the wonders of wisdom,
the trees and the fountains,
the stars and the mountains,
all the children of joy,
the loved and the known,
the unknowable mystery
to whom we return
through the world-destroyer, —
Holy, holy
at the end of the world
the Iurging fire
of the Iurifier, the liberator!
3. Rogue EleIhant
by A R Ammons
The reason to be autonomous is to stand there,
a cleared instrument, ready to act, to search
the moral realm and actual conditions for what
needs to be done and to do it: fine, the
best, if it works out, but if, like a gun, it
comes in handy to the wrong choice, why then
you see the danger in the effective: better
then an autonomy that stands and looks about,
negotiating nothing, the suIreme indifferences:
is anything to be gained where as much is lost:
and if for every action there is an equal and
oIIosite reaction has the loss been researched
equally with the gain: you can see how the
milling actions of millions could come to a
buzzard-like glide as from a coincidental,
warm bottom of water stuck between chilled
Ieaks: it is not so easy to say, OK, go on
out and act: who, doing what, to what or
whom: just a minute: should the bunker be
bombed (if it stores gas): should all the
rattlers die just because they rattle: if I
hear the young gentleman vomiter roaring down
the hall in the men’s room, should I go and
inquire of him, reducing him to my care: no
wonder the great sayers (who say nothing) sit
about in inaccessible states of mind: no
wonder still wisdom and catatonia aIIear to
exchange Ilaces occasionally: but if anything
were easy, our easy choices soon would carry
away our ignorance with the world-better
let the mixed-uI mix and let the surface shine
with all the Iossibilities, each in itself.
4. Snow And Ice
by Quincy TrouIe
ice sheets sweeI this slick mirrored dark Ilace
sIace as keys that turn in tight, trigger
Iain of situations
where we move ever so slowly
so gently into time — traced agony
the bright turning of imagination
so slowly
grooved through revolving doors, oIening uI to enter
mountains where sIirits walk voices, ever so slowly
sweIt by cold, breathing fire
as these elliItical moments of illusion
link fragile loves sunk deeI in snows as footIrints
the voice Irints cold black gesticulations
bone bare voices
chewed skeletal choices
in fangs of Iiranha gales
sIewing out slivers of raucous laughter
glinting bright as hard Iolished silver nails.
5. The Hideous Chair
by Erin Belieu
This hideous,
uIholstered in gift-wraI fabric, chromed
in Ilaces, design Iossibility
for the future canned ham.
I’ve assumed a great many things:
the Ierversity of choices, affairs
I did or did not have.
But let the record show
that I was haIIy.
O let the hideous chair
stand! for the Chinese aIothecary
with his roots and fluids;
for Iaoul at the bank;
for the young woman in Bailey’s Drug,
exIert on henna; and Warren Beatty,
tough, sleek stray.
for Fluff and Flo,
drunk at noon, and the Am Vets lady
reading her Vogue, the cholos
on the corner where the 57 bus comes by,
for their gratifying, cool aIIraisal
and courtly manner when I Iass.
Let the seat be comfortable
but let the chair be hideous
and stand against the correct,
hygienic, comIletely IroIer
subdued in taxidermied elegance.
Let me have in any future
some hideous thing to love, here.
6. I Choose to Live By Choice, Not By Chance
by Anonymous
To be motivated, not manipulated,
To be useful, not used,
To make changes, not excuses,
To excel, not compete.
I choose self-esteem, not self-pity.
I choose to listen to my inner voice.
Not to listen to the random opinions of others.
7. A Better Me
by Jojoba Mansell
I strive to find a better me,
a person just and true.
I want to live and not just be,
to be decent through and through.
I need to be a stronger me,
both in body and in soul.
It’s not a whim, it needs to be,
for me to feel whole.
I will be that better me,
and that better me will stay.
I will be better, they’ll see,
it’s time to seize the day!
8. Dreams
by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
The Challenge
by Jim Rohn
Let others lead small lives,
But not you.
Let others argue over small things,
But not you.
Let others cry over small hurts,
But not you.
Let others leave their future
In someone else’s hands,
But not you.
9. The Armful
by Robert Frost
For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,
Extremes too hard to comprehend at once
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with~ hand and mind
And heart, if need be, I will do my best.
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road
And try to stack them in a better load.
Short Poems about Choices
These short poetries about choices are the most impactful that have been written throughout history. So, let’s find some best here.
1. There Will Come A Day
by Julie Hebert
There will come a day in your life,
When you will be told,
That life isn’t a fairy tale,
So let go of what you still hold.
Making the choice to hold on to things,
That you can never change,
Is holding you back,
And Irobably feels quite strange.
So let go of the Iast.
And look on to the future.
This will lift the weight,
With no need for suture.
And never forget this,
That the choice is for you to Iursue.
To determine what your choice is
Let life be the best for you.
2. It Is Our Choice
by Julie Hebert
Life is filled with
UIs and downs,
It’s our choice, it’s uI to us
To smile or frown.
We are the ones,
That makes a choice to determine our fate,
Don’t ever think,
You are too late.
Our life is made uI,
Of the choices we make.
So get on out there,
And get your Iiece of the cake.
Don’t ever let life
Iass you by.
Life’s too Irecious,
To just standby.
3. Choices We Make
by Catherine Iulsifer
Every day we have choices to make
They may seem small but they can determine our fate
We always need to weigh the good and the bad
Making the right choice will result in being glad.
When choices seem difficult to make
We can stoI and Iut on the brakes
We can ask for advice and look for a guide
Someone with wisdom to Irovide.
When the wrong choice we decide
We can fix it, not let it divide.
Don’t ever hesitate to say sorry
It will be aIIreciated and recognized.
And a choice incorrectly made
Learn from it and you will see it fade
So when it comes to choices do your best
And everything will work out like doing a test!
4. Choose The Lath
by Edgar A. Guest
There are no gods that bring to youth
The rich rewards that stalwarts claim;
The god of fortune is in truth
A vision and an emIty name.
The toiler who through doubt and care
Unto his goal and victory Ilods,
With no one need his glory share:
He is himself his favoring gods.
There are no gods that will bestow
Earth’s joys and blessings on a man.
Each one must choose the Iath he’ll go,
Then win from it what joy he can.
And he that battles with the odds
Shall know success, but he who waits
The favors of the mystic gods,
Shall never come to glory’s gates.
No man is greater than his will;
No gods to him will lend a hand!
UIon his courage and his skill
The record of his life must stand.
What honors shall befall to him,
What he shall claim of fame or Ielf,
DeIend not on the favoring whim.
5. Our Choices
by Catherine Lulsifer
Success and haIIiness are truly yours to keeI
It is for us to determine the Iath we take
For no one can decide the success we seek
Nor the joys that we gain from our choices meek.
A life of Irocrastination will bring no Ieace
That inefficiency hinders success to cease.
Our bright future lies only in deadlines we meet
In effort and sweat, our joys will comIlete.
6. Plain Old Oyster
by Anonymous
There once was an oyster, whose story I’ll tell
Who found that some sand, had gotten into his shell
It was only a grain, but gave him great pain
For oysters have feelings, although they are plain
Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate
That had brought him to such a deplorable state?
“No”, he said to himself, “Since I cannot remove it”,
I’ll lie in my shell, and think how to improve it”,
The years rolled around, as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny stew.
Now the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow,
This tale has a morale, for isn’t it grand,
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?
Think…what could we do, if we’d only begin,
With some of the things that get under our skin.
7. What is Success?
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
8. Hard Choices
by Jojoba Mansell
A path is laid out ahead,
It forks before your feet.
A decision filled with dread,
Uncertain of what you’ll meet.
A game full of chance,
Of many hidden pit falls.
To find true romance,
Dare you risk losing all?
Choices never easy to make,
Fog seems to cloud your way.
You fear making a mistake,
Of gambling and losing the day.
But life is full of Hard Choices,
And risk is part of the game.
Be brave, ignore doubting voices,
Make the choice, life won’t be the same.
9. Building
by I. E. Dickenga
We are building every day
In a good or evil way,
And the structure, as it grows,
Will our inmost self-disclose,
Till in every arch and line
All our faults and failings shine;
It may grow a castle grand,
Or a wreck upon the sand.
Do you ask what building this
That can show both pain and bliss,
That can be both dark and fair?
Lo, its name is character!
Build it well, whate’er you do;
Build it straight and strong and true;
Build it clear and high and broad;
Build it for the eye of God.
10. The Ways
by John Oxenham
To every man there openeth
A choice of ways to go;
And the high soul takes the high road
And the low soul takes the low,
And in between on misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro;
But to everyone there openeth
A high way and a low,
And everyone decideth
The way his soul shall go.
Long Poems about Choices
Long poetries about choices offer an opportunity to delve deeper into the complexities of decision-making. Also, explore the nuances and consequences of the paths we choose.
1. What Life Should Be
by Pat A. Fleming
To learn while still a child
What this life is meant to be.
To know it goes beyond myself,
It’s so much more than me.
To overcome the tragedies,
To survive the hardest times.
To face those moments filled with pain,
And still, manage to be kind.
To fight for those who can’t themselves,
To always share my light.
With those who wander in the dark,
To love with all my might.
To still stand up with courage,
Though standing on my own.
To still get up and face each day,
Even when I feel alone.
To try to understand the ones
That no one cares to know.
And make them feel some value
When the world has let them go.
To be an anchor, strong and true,
That person loyal to the end.
To be a constant source of hope
To my family and my friends.
To live a life of decency,
To share my heart and soul.
To always say I’m sorry
When I’ve harmed both friend and foe.
To be proud of whom I’ve tried to be,
And this life I chose to live.
To make the most of every day
By giving all I have to give.
To me, that’s what this life should be,
To me, that’s what it’s for.
To take what God has given me
And make it so much more
To live a life that matters,
To be someone of great worth.
To love and be loved in return
And make my mark on Earth.
2. If
by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream — and not make dreams your master;
If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!
3. The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
4. A Psalm of Life
Act! Take Action! Be Active!
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, however pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, — act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
5. Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still, I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
6. What I Am
by Terrance Hayes
I’m standing in the express lane (cash only)
about to buy Head & Shoulders
the white people shampoo, no one knows
what I am. My name could be Lamont.
George Clinton wears colors like Toucan Sam,
the Froot Loop pelican. Follow your nose,
he says. But I have no nose, no mouth,
so you tell me what’s good, what’s god,
what’s funky. When I stop
by McDonald’s for a cheeseburger, no one
suspects what I am. I smile at Ronald’s poster,
perpetual grin behind the pissed-off, fly-girl
cashier I love. Where are my goddamn fries?
Ain’t I American? I never say, Niggaz
in my poems. My ancestors didn’t
emigrate. Why would anyone leave
their native land? I’m thinking about shooting
some hoop later on. I’ll dunk on every one
of those niggaz. They have no idea
what I am. I might be the next Jordan
god. They don’t know if Toni Morrison
is a woman or a man. Michael Jackson
is the biggest name in showbiz. Mamma se
Mamma sa mamma Ku sa, sang the Bushmen
in Africa. I’ll buy a Dimebag after the game,
me & Jody. He says, Fuck them white people
at work, Man. He was an All-American
in high school. He’s cool, but he doesn’t know
what I am, & so what. Fred Sanford’s on
in a few & I got the dandruff-free head
& shoulders of white people & a cheeseburger
belly & a Thriller CD & Nike high tops
& slavery’s dead & the TV’s my daddy —
You big Dummy!
7. The Guest House
by Jelaluddin Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
8. Hope’ is The Thing With Feathers
by Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops — at all –
And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet — never — in Extremity,
It asked a crumb — of me.
9. The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
10. Annabel Lee
by Edgar Allan Poe
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love —
I and my Annabel Lee —
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulcher
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me —
Yes! — that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we —
Of many far wiser than we —
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling — my darling — my life and my bride,
In her sepulcher there by the sea —
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
11. Out, Out
by Robert Frost
The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: the day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half-hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside him in her apron
To tell them ‘Supper.’ At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap —
He must have given the hand. However, it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all —
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart —
He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off —
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then — the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little — less — nothing! — and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
Poems about Choices That Rhyme
Poems about choices with rhyme offer a unique way to explore the themes of imbuing the words with a sense of rhythm and flow.
1. The Secret of It
by Amos Russel Wells
“Where does the clerk of the weather store
The days that are sunny and fair?”
“In your heart is a room with a close shut door
And all of those days are there.”
“Where does the clerk of the weather keep
The days that are dreary and blue?”
“In a second room in your heart they sleep,
And you have the keys of the two.”
“And why are my days so often, I pray,
Filled full of clouds and of gloom?”
“Because you go at the break of day
And open the wrong heart-room.”
2. The Stature of Zacchaeus
by Amos Russell Wells
Zacchaeus struggled with the crowd;
A little man was he.
“Vermin!” he muttered half aloud,
“I’ll make them honor me.
Ah, when the taxes next are due,
I’ll tower as is meet;
This beggarly, ill-mannered crew
Shall cower at my feet.”
Zacchaeus climbed the sycomore
(He was a little man),
And as he looked the rabble o’er
He chuckled at the plan.
“I get the thing I want,” he said,
“And that is to be tall.
They think me short but by a head
I rise above them all.”
“Zacchaeus, come! dine with you,”
The famous Rabbi cried.
Zacchaeus tumbled into view
A giant in his pride.
He strutted mightily before
That silly, gaping throng;
You’d think him six feet high or more,
To see him stride along.
Zacchaeus listened to the Lord,
And as he listened, feared;
How was his life a thing abhorred
When that pure Life appeared!
Down to a dwarf he shrank away
In sorrow and in shame.
He owned his sins that very day,
And bore the heavy blame.
But as he rose before the crowd,
(A little man, alack!)
Confessed his guilt and cried aloud
And gave his plunder back,
I think he stood a giant then
As angels truly scan,
And no one ever thought again
He was a little man.
3. The Broken Pinion
by Hezekiah Butterworth
I walked through the woodland meadows,
Where sweet the thrushes sing;
And I found on a bed of mosses
A bird with a broken wing.
I healed its wound, and each morning
It sang its old sweet strain,
But the bird with a broken pinion
Never soared as high again.
I found a young life broken
By sin’s seductive art;
And touched with a Christlike pity,
I took him to my heart.
He lived with a noble purpose
And struggled not in vain;
But the life that sin had stricken
Never soared as high again.
But the bird with a broken pinion
Kept another from the snare;
And the life that sin had stricken
Raised another from despair.
Each loss has its compensation,
There is healing for every pain;
But the bird with a broken pinion
Never soars as high again.
4. Conscience And Future Judgement
by Anonymous
I sat alone with my conscience,
In a place where time had ceased,
And we talked of my former living
In the land where the years increased;
And I felt I should have to answer
The question it might put to me,
And to face the question and answer
Throughout an eternity.
The ghosts of forgotten actions
Came floating before my sight,
And things that I thought had perished
Were alive with a terrible might;
And the vision of life’s dark record
Was an awful thing to face—
Alone with my conscience sitting
In that solemnly silent place.
And I thought of a far-away warning,
Of a sorrow that was to be mine,
In a land that then was the future,
But now is the present time;
And I thought of my former thinking
Of the judgment day to be;
But sitting alone with my conscience
Seemed judgment enough for me.
And I wondered if there was a future
To this land beyond the grave;
But no one gave me an answer
And no one came to save.
Then I felt that the future was present,
And the present would never go by,
For it was but the thought of a future
Become an eternity.
Then I woke from my timely dreaming,
And the vision passed away;
And I knew the far-away warning
Was a warning of yesterday.
And I pray that I may not forget it
In this land before the grave,
That I may not cry out in the future,
And no one come to save.
I have learned a solemn lesson
Which I ought to have known before,
And which, though I learned it dreaming,
I hope to forget no more.
So I sit alone with my conscience
In the place where the years increase,
And I try to fathom the future,
In the land where time shall cease.
And I know of the future judgment,
How dreadful soe’er it be,
That to sit alone with my conscience
Will be judgment enough for me.
5. There Is A Difference
by William Henry Dawson
There is cause for many stings,
In the way some folks do things,
Some go at it “hammer ‘n’ tongs,”
Some with curses, some with songs;
But to each some trait belongs,
Some have soured on everything,
Can’t find aught without a sting,
There are others not so sour,
Who find on every thorn a flower,
And for good they are a power,
As I’ve traveled life’s pathway,
I’ve found grumbling doesn’t pay,
Of the kicker folks have tired;
He’s no longer much admired,
From good company he’s been “fired,”
As I walk along the street,
I look for the good and sweet,
All the sour ones I pass by,
And the only reason why—
I couldn’t like them if I’d try,
So, my friend, take my advice,
Don’t let me have to tell you twice,
If you would ever happy be,
Don’t be sour with all you see,
But be joyous, happy and free.
6. Foreboding
by Ellen P. Allerton
I will not look for storms when skies are glowing,
With hues of summer sunsets painted o’er;
When all my tides of life are softly flowing,
I will not listen for the breaker’s roar.
I will not search the future for its sorrows,
Nor peer ahead for lions in the way,
I will not weep o’er possible to-morrows—
Sufficient is the evil of to-day.
7. The Door
by Jessie Belle Rittenhouse
There was a door stood long ajar
That one had left for me,
While I went trying other doors
To which I had no key.
And when at last I turned to seek
The refuge and the light,
A gust of wind had shut the door
And left me in the night.
Poems about Choices for Children
Children’s poems about choices are the most charming and delightful poems that are perfect for children of all ages.
1. What to Wear?
by Neal Zetter
I won’t wear a wizard outfit, wand and black moustache
I won’t wear a blonde wig as I’d look completely daft
I won’t wear a monster suit with googly eyes
I won’t wear a cape (unless it helps me to fly)
I won’t wear the whiskers, tail and claws of a cat
I won’t wear a ten-gallon cowboy hat
I won’t wear a leotard or a long white nightie
I won’t wear a pirate’s beard that’s prickly and spiky
I won’t wear armour as it’s sure to rust and creak
I won’t wear a clown nose and big floppy feet
I won’t wear the costume of a giant bumble bee
‘Cause at your fancy dress party I’ll be going as…
Me!
2. What Is Your Favourite Colour?
by Ed Boxall
Is it that wizard White,
Made of glistening icy light?
Is it that hero Red,
From the neon city night?
Is your favourite the fairy Green,
Running lightly over leaves?
Or dreamy dragon Pink,
Made of soft evening breeze?
Is it the traveller Grey?
Treading wearily through the rain?
Or maybe mother Yellow,
Saying ‘Hello, Home Again!”
Could it be clown Orange,
Who refuses to rhyme?
Or the silent spirit-bird Blue,
From beyond space and time?
3. Ten Minutes
by Zaro Weil
there are only ten minutes left to go
should I get up and get ready to leave now
or should I keep doing this for nine minutes more
or climb a tree in eight minutes
or bake a cake in seven minutes
or write a book in six minutes
or make an important scientific discovery
during the next five minutes
or compose a symphony in four minutes
or save my country in three minutes
or circumnavigate the globe in two minutes
or explore the milky way in one minute
or or or or or ……..
4. Bell Rings
by Trevor Millum
bell rings you rise
voice calls you eat
radio gives time you leave
diesel powered vehicle arrives you board
vehicle halts you walk
bell rings you enter
bell rings you sit
your name is called you speak
bell rings you move
bell rings you move
bell rings you eat
bell rings you sit
bell rings you stand
bell rings you jump
bell rings rings rings
you queue
vehicle halts you board
it stops you walk
voice speaks you nod
voice shouts you answer you eat
radio sings you listen
tv says time you move
set clock
it ticks you sleep
and dream you really not
machine
5. Instead
by Brian Moses
Instead of an X-box
please show me a pathway that stretches to the stars.
Instead of a mobile phone
please teach me the language I need to help me speak with angels.
Instead of a computer
please reveal to me the mathematics of meteors and motion.
Instead of the latest computer game
please come with me on a search for dragons in the wood behind our house.
Instead of an e-reader
please read to me from a book of ancient knowledge.
Instead of a digital camera
please help me remember faces and places, mystery and moonbeams.
Instead of a 3D TV
please take me to an empty world that I can people with my imagination.
Instead of electronic wizardry
please show me how to navigate the wisdom inside of me.
6. Best Friends
by Bernard Young
Would a best friend
Eat your last sweet
Talk about you behind your back
Have a party and not ask you?
Mine did.
Would a best friend
Borrow your bike without telling you
Deliberately forget your birthday
Avoid you whenever possible?
Mine did.
Would a best friend
Turn up on your bike
Give you a whole packet of your favourite sweets
Look you in the eye?
Mine did.
Would a best friend say
Sorry I talked about you behind your back
Sorry I had a party and didn’t invite you
Sorry I deliberately forgot your birthday
– I thought you’d fallen out with me?
Mine did.
And would a best friend say, simply,
Never mind
That’s OK?
I did.
Poems about Choices And Consequences
Here we select the most impactful and thought-provoking poems about choices and consequences that have been written throughout history.
1. A Wink And A Nod to The Bard
by Carolyn F. Chryst
to choose or not to choose
is always the question
this or that or the other thing
define a pathway to being
rewards come
shaded in pain
illuminated in glory
shape a life story
the choice then is only how we react
to the mantle of consequences
the question which pathway, which story
which life, which choice
will leave us intact
not shredded parts of who I coulda,
shoulda been.
2. Choices With Adult Consequences
by Bree Annag
When tea parties turned into kickbacks,
I knew my childhood was depleting.
Beer bottles displayed like drunken artifacts,
If only I knew “fitting in” wouldn’t matter in 4 years’ time.
My classmates went from drawing abstract lines in art class,
To snorting lines in our bathroom stalls.
The moment we were allowed to make choices,
We were no longer kids.
Every choice held another consequence,
It was up to us to make the right ones.
Make choices consistent with your goals,
Something my teacher instilled into me.
Sometimes these choices weren’t easy to make,
But it was now our responsibility to make them.
3. Undying Adoration
by Brenda Chiri
Drifting along on
tranquil opportunities
Embellished within
the nicest ingenuities
Animating all your
stanzas and verses
Giving meaning to
them with purpose
Never holding back
your promises of more
With add creative
imagination galore
Exploring your lines
amongst their transition
Acknowledging their
intent being my mission
Intuitive cartographic
portrayed expression
Removing all of the
unwanted indiscretion
Appreciating each of
our distinct differences
Regardless of
consequences or significance
Influenced characteristics
written in script
Gliding along your mind’s
swells and dips
Returning the potential
to a clear lucidity
Gracefully floating on
unwavering fluidity
Riding upon your flow
of subtle illustrations
Conspicuous gallantry
with trusted fixation
Emotions i feel when
experiencing your words
While listening to your
pieces that you record
Leaves me forever lost
in your articulation
Evoking my soul, giving
my undying adoration’s.
4. Love’s Selection
by Dennis Spilchuk
The word love is carelessly spewed,
Overused, misused, and abused.
Its connotation is attributed
To a sex object exhibited
And treated uninhibitedly.
Beauty defined gives the impression,
That it’s the outward appearance
Intended to shape one’s perception,
For choosing in matrimony,
Regardless of consequences.
Different sexes with expressions
And their need for gratification
Lean toward infatuation,
Because emotional eyes can deceive
And influence one’s selection:
When physical lusts of attraction,
Impede the mind’s comprehension,
Resulting in flawed situations;
Rather than seeking combinations,
That make living enjoyable.
5. The World Within
by Anonymous
To feel inner polarity of senses,
the first thing we need to do, is rest thought flow,
so that we live not our life in past tenses
by being present here now, with heart mellow,
fearful not of imagined consequences,
softening attention, feeling bliss beats glow,
whereupon being grazed by God’s grace sublime,
we imbibe the cadence of love’s divine chime.
6. The Road Ahead
by Curtis Johnson
Whether it’s the road just ahead or distance far,
Never forget where you are headed and who you are.
There was one who turned his head,
And later caused his head to dread.
There was pain that cut into his heart,
And could have torn his whole world apart.
Conscious awareness of possible tragedies
can drip the soul with fears of consequences.
The head that had turned was forced to return,
And the heart set aflame had learned to discern.
Poems about Choices in Life
Poems about choices in life explore the joys and sorrows of decision-making, reminding us of the power we hold to shape our own destiny.
1. My Treasure
by Arthur Weir
“What do you gather?” the maiden said,
Shaking her sunlit curls at me–
“See, these flowers I plucked are dead,
Ah! misery.”
“What do you gather?” the miser said,
Clinking his gold, as he spoke to me–
“I cannot sleep at night for dread
of thieves,” said he.
“What do you gather?” the dreamer said,
“I dream dreams of what is to be;
Daylight comes, and my dreams are fled,
Ah! woe is me.”
“What do you gather?” the young man said–
“I seek fame for eternity,
Toiling on while the world’s abed,
Alone,” said he.
“What do I gather?” I laughing said,
“Nothing at all save memory,
Sweet as flowers, but never dead,
Like thine, Rosie.”
“I have no fear of thieves,” I said,
“Daylight kills not my reverie,
Fame will find I am snug abed,
That comes to me.”
“The past is my treasure, friends,” I said,
“Time but adds to my treasury,
Happy moments are never fled
Away from me.”
“All one needs to be rich,” I said,
“Is to live that his past shall be
Sweet in his thoughts, as a wild rose red,
Eternally
2. The Lesson
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
My cot was down by a cypress grove,
And I sat by my window the whole night long,
And heard well up from the deep dark wood
A mocking–bird’s passionate song.
And I thought of myself so sad and lone,
And my life’s cold winter that knew no spring;
Of my mind so weary and sick and wild,
Of my heart too sad to sing.
But e’en as I listened the mock–bird’s song,
A thought stole into my saddened heart,
And I said, “I can cheer some other soul
By a carol’s simple art.”
For oft from the darkness of hearts and lives
Come songs that brim with joy and light,
As out of the gloom of the cypress grove
The mocking–bird sings at night.
So I sang a lay for a brother’s ear
In a strain to soothe his bleeding heart,
And he smiled at the sound of my voice and lyre,
Though mine was a feeble art.
But at his smile I smiled in turn,
And into my soul there came a ray:
In trying to soothe another’s woes
Mine own had passed away.
3. Perseverance
by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
We must not hope to be mowers,
And to gather the ripe gold ears,
Unless we have first been sowers
And watered the furrows with tears.
It is not just as we take it,
This mystical world of ours,
Life’s field will yield as we make it
A harvest of thorns or of flowers.
4. The Door of Dreams
by Jessie Belle Rittenhouse
I often passed the Door of Dreams
But never stepped inside,
Though sometimes, with surprise, I saw
The door was open wide.
I might have gone forever by,
As I had done before,
But one day, when I passed, I saw
You standing in the door.
5. Who Killed The Plan?
by Amos Russel Wells
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said the Critic,
“I knew how to hit it,
I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” the Bore said.
“I talked it dead,
I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said the Sloth.
“I lagged and was loth.
And I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said Ambition.
“With my selfish vision
I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said the Crank,
“With my nonsense rank
I kil1ed the Plan.”
6. Invictus
by William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning’s of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Poems about Choices That Are Wise
Poems about wise choices offer insights into the decision-making process, providing guidance and inspiration for those looking to navigate life’s twists and turns with grace and wisdom.
1. A Wise Choice
by Romeo Della Valle
I have learned throughout time,
The hard and painful ways
To listen with empty ears,
To those nasty and disturbing words
That I may encounter any day
Fluttering in the air…
I cannot afford negative forces
To overshadow the peace of mind
And spirituality within me…
Walking away from boisterous events
Seems to be my best choice,
For reasoning and wisdom
Must always prevail…
2. Make A Wise Choice
by Dennis e. Obrie
Care, and care, and share,
can you make up your mind;
am sure you are aware,
aware of what caring finds.
We don’t need to be a bully,
or put someone down;
do you understand this fully,
stop acting like a clown.
I’ve gained some wisdom learning,
learning what my knowledge means;
it always is returning,
to fulfill my many dreams.
Yes, I dream about you,
cannot help the fact;
after all the things we’ve been through,
we know how we’ll react.
So, can you learn to care again,
so you will soon rejoice;
I’ll check back now and then,
hope you make a wise choice.
A Choice to Make In Time.
3. Make Wise Decisions!
by Kennethlaney
Looking up from the pits of HELL
I wish I had made better choices!
The Final Choice
to take my own life because I felt
that the thing that mattered most to me
was Lost!
A love that was so dear to me that
I could not bear longer to see
The Pain And Suffering
HatI Had Caused Thee to Feel!
My life hasth end too soon!
This should not be!
I still love and cheerish thee,
your very exsistance,
“To No End!”
Such a fool to make
such a fools choice!
Oh Please God
For One More Chance
I BEG of THEE!
As The Pain of Lucifer’s
eternal fire
envelopes my soul,
I Try to Emmit
Just a single tear!
But There Are None!
I Must Now BareE The Weight
of my
“Final Decision”
For Eternity!
4. His Other Chance
by Edgar Albert Guest
He was down and out, and his pluck was gone,
And he said to me in a gloomy way:
‘I’ve wasted my chances, one by one,
And I’m just no good, as the people say.
Nothing ahead, and my dreams all dust,
Though once there was something I might have been,
But I wasn’t game, and I broke my trust,
And I wasn’t straight and I wasn’t clean.’
‘You’re pretty low down,’ says I to him,
‘But nobody’s holding you there, my friend.
Life is a stream where men sink or swim,
And the drifters come to a sorry end;
But there’s two of you living and breathing still—
The fellow you are, and he’s tough to see,
And another chap, if you’ve got the will,
The man that you still have a chance to be.’
He laughed with scorn. ‘Is there two of me?
I thought I’d murdered the other one.
I once knew a chap that I hoped to be,
And he was decent, but now he’s gone.’
‘Well,’ says I, ‘it may seem to you
That life has little of joy in store,
But there’s always something you still can do,
And there’s never a man but can try once more.
‘There are always two to the end of time—
The fellow we are and the future man.
The Lord never meant you should cease to climb,
And you can get up if you think you can.
The fellow you are is a sorry sight,
But you needn’t go drifting out to sea.
Get hold of yourself and travel right;
There’s a fellow you’ve still got a chance to be.
5. Keep A-Pluggin’ Away
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I’ve a humble little motto
That is homely, though it’s true,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
It’s a thing when I’ve an object
That I always try to do,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
When you’ve rising storms to quell,
When opposing waters swell,
It will never fail to tell,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
If the hills are high before
And the paths are hard to climb,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
And remember that successes
Come to him who bides his time,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
From the greatest to the least,
None are from the rule released.
Be thou toiler, poet, priest,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
Delve away beneath the surface,
There is treasure farther down,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
Let the rain come down in torrents,
Let the threat’ning heavens frown,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
When the clouds have rolled away,
There will come a brighter day
All your labor to repay,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
There ‘ll be lots of sneers to swallow.
There’ll be lots of pain to bear,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
If you’ve got your eye on heaven,
Some bright day you’ll wake up there,
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
Perseverance still is king;
Time its sure reward will bring;
Work and wait unwearying,—
Keep a-pluggin’ away.
6. The Hustling Pumpkin Vine
by Ed. Blair
Say boy, don’t go a mopin’ ’round ‘n’ talkin’ in a whine,
But go out in the field and view the hustling pumpkin vine.
It has the kind o’ stuff in it that’s needed, boy, in you,
A kind o’ get there quality thet most folks say will do.
The weeds may grow around it but the pumpkin vine don’t stop,
It shows it’s there fer business an’ it climbs right out on top.
An’ if it strikes a big stone fence or ditch that may be wide,
It jes’ lines out ‘n strings the pumpkins on the other side.
So boy, don’t let the weeds or ditches drive you from your way,
But go ahead and get on top—do something every day.
An’ if things look discouraging, don’t ever mope or whine,
But go and learn a lesson from the hustling pumpkin vine.
Poems about Choices That Are Right
Poems about making the right decisions offer a reflection on the importance of integrity and morality in decision-making.
1. Make The Right Choices
by Brenda Arledge
She is proud of him
for taking a stand,
not running away from responsibility,
realizing his actions have consequences.
Decisions are not easy to make
but putting one foot in front of the other,
is a step in the right direction.
2. The Right Decision
by Melissa Westfall
There are right paths in this world to take,
And right choices in your life to make.
Making these decisions are hard to do,
Making the wrong one can poison you.
They may seem hard but you must make a choice,
You can always listen to your inner voice.
Listen to your heart and then with your mind,
But the right decision you must find.
Always be careful when you pick your path,
Don’t cross another and raise their wrath.
So think about your answer before you choose,
If you don’t you may have a lot to lose.
3. Decisions And Life’s Choices.
by David Boyce
The majority of people in this world,
Have the ability, to make their own choices,
In most daily decisions made,
Just by raising their voices.
Too many people blame others,
For the decisions they make,
Which changes their lives drastically,
And the path they will take.
We will all make mistakes,
And you need to live and learn,
Because by making things right again,
A lot of respect you will earn.
So, don’t just sit back in anger,
And take life’s hits as they run,
Grab every opportunity in life to make it positive,
And see what they become.
4. The Right Choice
by Deidre Dixon
I am not a shoe that you try to see if it fits
You see, you like, you buy and return if you made a miss
I am not an entree at a restaurant that you order to your taste
You pick and choose and eat what you like while the rest all goes to waste
I am not a vehicle that you pick out from a lot
You take it for a test drive then decide if you will purchase it or not
What I am is a diamond whose value is determined with clarity
Once you get a closer view, you’ll know and into me see
I started off rough with flaws and no polish or shine
I’ve been through an intense process that perfected over time
A fine gem of beauty, multi-faceted, polished and brilliant too
After a brief time of observation, you’ll desire to have me no matter what you have to do
There will be no need to wonder if I am a precious stone
You will want me with you at all times, never to be alone
I will never go out of style and will give you many years of pleasure
My value will only increase with time, and I will always be your treasure
Once you have chosen me from those available, to you is who I will belong
Then you will see the true asset I am, and the choice you made was not wrong.
5. Fluttering Heart
by Stephania Uwakweh
Long before her brain figured it out
her heart raced and fluttered
At the sound of his voice
At the length of his stride
At the breath of his knowledge
At the charm of his presence.
Her head said, “Oh, he is merely a good friend.
Yeah, you both click on an intellectual level,
But that is all there will ever be to it.
Was the damsel wrong and at what cost?
Her poor, tender heart feels differently,
But as usual, will it calmly yield to the
Dictates of her ever-imposing head?
For a season, she managed to brush aside her dilemma.
No matter how much she tried to ignore it,
her heart pounded at the mention of his name.
Whether rightly or wrongly,
Whether it was meant to be or not,
All she knows is that her heart flutters
At the depth of his wisdom,
At the warmth of his smile,
At the thought that he cared.
If only she let her heart lead the way,
Rather than acquiesce to her assuming head.
Her head seeks for a safe, comfortable choice,
But her heart prefers the risky and unexplainable.
In her naivety, she thought the flutters were short-lived.
Reason suggests if she ignores them, and
Refuses to characterize what her heart knows,
Time would erase the flutters.
Well, time will tell.
Time will tell!
6. My Life My Choices
by Fihaal
The reason you don’t know me
Is because I don’t want you to
The reason you don’t and can’t hate me
Is because you don’t have the guts to
From the inside even you know
And indeed, you say with all your voices
It is my life and my choices.
Poems about Choices That Are Difficult
Not all choices are easy, and sometimes the most difficult decisions can have the greatest impact on our lives. Poems about difficult decisions offer a reflection on the challenges of decision-making
1. The Choice
by Archit Rai
The steps I took had a usual pace
The warmth stirred a calm day
The sun radiated the whole place
My mind had reached the pleasant state.
On that calm day
Amongst the whole,
My inner voice whispered alone
Yet, loud enough to hear the roar
That shook the dust from my rusty core.
My vision went some far beyond
Far enough to break the bonds
The bonds of deceptions of delightful days
To the world that kept untold tales.
Coming back and thinking each day,
Am I wasting my youthful wings?
Standing on the threshold of change,
My wings shivered their upcoming fate.
Yet the calmness of the other shore
That had already touched my deepest core
Was ready for the test of mighty fate
And also the fear of thousand pains.
The choice was mine and mine alone
Yet burdened by the eyes that glared;
Those eyes that shackled me with the flow,
Those eyes that suppressed my inner core.
The aghast way will always test my art,
And thousand mountains are still to pass
Daring deeds will make some scars,
The road to give up will always lay ajar.
The choice is mine and mine alone.
So leaving the threshold I did fly,
Shivering wings but the core in delight,
Doing what I truly felt to be right.
2. In The Middle of Two Ends
by Nadia Lonnen
Ripples awakening in the path beyond,
The wind fierce upon my face,
Choices I’ll make are unforgotten,
Dark clouds are nearing; do we leave it to fate?
Everyone stares, business shared,
The life and plans of others,
Our looks and acts give us away,
Too much to show, too much to share,
The old and the new in so many turns,
Walk or stride, no matter what, you cannot hide,
The decision awaits, the choices need made,
It’s so hard, so tough,
Your life is the frame.
In the middle of two ends,
The fate’s in your power,
Your life needs deciding,
Here the choice is made,
Hear the choices slain.
Competition with your own mind,
No winner ever prevails,
A losing battle to many others,
For no emotion, a tough choice is all that complies.
Yet a choice will be made,
Someone’s life will have pain,
No emotion can ever win,
No real emotion ever surfaced.
3. Transberian Shifts
by Identifat
Minus the accord you seek,
Trespass only on the weak?
in pain, progress, in agonies, hope…
widen your perspective, for how else to cope?
snow drenched mountains of the will
to begin and end the quest, it’s how you develop skill…
4. Difficult Decisions
by Nigel Beckett
When life throws you difficult decisions,
Of which you feel you can’t make.
It’s best to go with your heart,
Its decisions you should always take.
It’s your heart that shows the true feeling,
Of which you cannot just hide.
Know that you made the right decision,
Show it and walk tall with pride.
The chance may not come again,
And the options may not be the same.
You don’t want to live with regrets,
And only yourself for to blame.
If it’s truly the person you love,
It doesn’t matter what gets in your way.
Ye will cross all the hurdles together,
And take them in stride day by day.
It’s not about foreseeing the future,
Or looking to the wrong in the past.
It’s about a true life of happiness,
And making it work for to last.
Don’t always live a life full of caution,
Or stopping to analyse all.
If the challenge is a little bit tougher,
Together ye are not going to fall.
Go out and live life to the full,
It’s only the one we are given.
And if we sometimes don’t get it right,
It’s nothing that can’t be forgiven.
So go with the flow for the moment,
And work through things one by one.
It’s not about being so serious,
Just enjoy it and always have fun.
5. At This Moment of Time
by Delmore Schwartz
Some who are uncertain compel me.
They fear
The Ace of Spades.
They fear
Loves offered suddenly, turning from the mantelpiece,
Sweet with decision.
And they distrust
The fireworks by the lakeside, first the spuft,
Then the colored lights, rising.
Tentative, hesitant, doubtful, they consume
Greedily Caesar at the prow returning,
Locked in the stone of his act and office.
While the brass band brightly bursts over the water
They stand in the crowd lining the shore
Aware of the water beneath Him.
They know it.
Their eyes
Are haunted by water
Disturb me, compel me.
It is not true
That “no man is happy,” but that is not
The sense which guides you.
If we are
Unfinished (we are, unless hope is a bad dream),
You are exact.
You tug my sleeve
Before I speak, with a shadow’s friendship,
And I remember that we who move
Are moved by clouds that darken midnight.
6. Juan in Middle Age
by Vernon Scannell
The appetite which leads him to her bed
Is not unlike the lust of boys for cake
Except he knows that after he has fed
He’ll suffer more than simple belly-ache.
He’ll groan to think what others have to pay
As price for his obsessive need to know
That he’s a champion still, though slightly grey,
And both his skill and gameness clearly show.
And after this quick non-decision bout,
As he in his dark corner gasping lies,
He’ll hear derision like a distant shout
While kisses press like pennies on his eyes.
Final Thoughts
The poems about decisions presented in this article reflect the complexity and power of decision-making in our lives.
From the simple choices of childhood to the weighty decisions that shape our futures, these works offer a glimpse into the human experience of choice.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration of poems about roads and choices and that it has sparked reflection on the choices you’ve made in your own life.
We invite you to share your thoughts in the comments section below, including any favorite poems about choices that we may have missed.
