Poetry Superhighway April 2023 Poems

Sam Adams does over meditation

Sam Adams does over meditation

Sam Adams
Is feeling his age
He just turned 70.

He got up
At dawn, like he usually did
Walked out of his Gimpo
South Korea

Went for a walk
Along the golden walkway canal
Beneath his 20th-story apartment
Enjoying the morning fog

He stops for coffee
And gluten-free pastries
And sits on his park bench

And like many old people
Often engages
In the mental game
Of ‘do over” meditation.

Thinking back on his life
What would he do differently
If he had a chance
To go back
And do it all over again.

Would he have gone
To a different college
Would it have been better
To have gone to chico state?

Would it have been better
If he had joined a fraternity
And become student body president

If he had gone to up
He should have gone to bed
With his platonic girlfriends
In any event
Should have gotten laid.

Before he turned 18
Instead of waiting
Until he was 21
A late bloomer sexually speaking.

He should have quit drinking
And taking drugs
Should have quit playing
The drunken bum show.

After the Peace Corps
He should have gone
To Yonsei
Done the two year
Korean language course.

Then gotten his MA
In Korean studies
Followed up by an MBA
At Thunderbird.

Should have waited
And joined either commerce
Or public affairs
Rather than the state.

Or should have transferred
Once he got tenure.
.
Should have not worked
For LAMC and CTC
That was a
Waste of time
And energy.

After he got married
He should have resolved
His sexual incompatibility issues
With his wife

In any event
Should have had a lot more
Oral sex delights
With his wife.

Should have not cheated
On his wife
At least not as much
As he had.

When he was in India
Should not have gotten
Involved with the other women
Should have kept faithful
To his wife.

In Bangkok
Should have not done the hash
Should have not had
The bar room incident.

Should have addressed
His ld.
While in college.

Should have done law school
Perhaps with his wife
They should have opened
A law firm together.

Should have moved
To Berkeley
And become a politician.

He and his wife
Should have bought
That gwangwhamoon property
And the independence avenue property.

Should not have bought
Katelyn court property
Or at least bought
It is across the street.

He should have retired
After Spain
And got to SF
And got his MFA degree.

He should have published
His novels
And poetry
And a movie script.

Should have started
A youtube channel
Becoming a youtube sensation.

In the end
There was one thing
He would still have done it.

Meet and marry
The girl of his dreams
But he should have
Written the movie script.
By now.

With this thoughts
In his mind
He went back home
And talked to his wife.

This poetry writing prompt submitted by karen watts:
We all make mistakes and have regrets. A popular fantasy is “If I could just have a do-over.” Write a poem about a terrible decision, ordinary mistake, or wrong turn in life that you’d never undo, even if you could.
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the poetry super highway Facebook group.


April 15, 2023: poetry writing prompt from Kenneth boyd