ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Greetings All! I was heading down a quite different path with these prompts until I had the experience (all too frequent) of complete non-appreciation for a gift given with love. With my "grumpy old woman" hat on, I was muttering about this and decided that this theme was a good fit for the prompts, as I'm sure I'm not alone in lamenting the loss of manners in our modern world.

THE POET'S LAMENT
(c) Shelley Hansen 10/6/19

Old ways of life are nearly gone,
with "please" and "thank you" left behind
somewhere along the dusty track -
too long past to return and find.

Appreciation does not cross
the orbit of the modern world,
but "rights", "entitlements" display
like banners on the sky unfurled.

What happened to the values which
included manners, that we learned
on parents' knees? The self-respect,
esteem, affection that was earned?

Oh! Heed a poet's sound advice
and let us battle through this trend!
Grow strong with words of simple praise
and kindness of the heart defend.

Very well written Shelley

Not sure there is an answer to the rudeness and in some cases brattish behaviour that seems to punctuate our lives today.
It's a whole new world, and in some cases, good manners appear to have got lost somewhere in the past.

Terry

Perhaps they are to be pitied, Shelley. They are going into debt that will bankrupt their spirit and leave them hollow shells.

Oh well done you! Certainly a switch on how to use those prompts - excellent example of thinking outside the square Shelley.

Thank you Terry, Neville and Maureen.

I agree with you Terry and Neville. This is the world we live in, and people who behave this way are all the poorer for doing so.

But a good excuse for a poem, anyway!