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Life Poems
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Life poems such as this show us the error of judging someone because of their current social position. It's easy to respect someone whom we know is prominent, wealthy, and is currently on top of life, as it were. And we tend to put-down the ones that have failed, especially those that have fallen a long way. The lesson here, however, is that a person should never give up, because even "has beens" can rise again to become winners once more. |  Find Your Courage!: Unleash Your Full Potential and Live the Life You Really Want  |
The Has-Beens
I read the papers every day, and oft encounter tales
which show there's hope for every jay who in life's battle fails.
I've just been reading of a gent who joined the has-been ranks,
at fifty years without a cent, or credit at the banks.
But undismayed he buckled down, refusing to be beat,
and captured fortune and renown; he's now on Easy Street.
Men say that fellows down and out ne'er leave the rocky track,
but facts will show, beyond a doubt, that has-beens do come back.
I know, for I who write this rhyme, when forty-odd years old,
was down and out, without a dime, my whiskers full of mold.
By black disaster I was trounced until it jarred my spine;
I was a failure so pronounced I didn't need a sign.
And after I had soaked my coat, I said (at forty-three),
"I'll see if I can catch the goat that has escaped from me."
I labored hard; I strained my dome, to do my daily grind,
until in triumph I came home, my billy-goat behind.
And any man who still has health may with the winners stack,
and have a chance at fame and wealth--for has-beens do come back.
~Walt Mason (1862 - 1939)
Mason was an American (originally Canadian) newspaper writer and humorist whose inimitable wit brought him national reputation. Familiarly known as "Uncle Walt," he restricted himself almost wholly to the writing of prose poems, although he also had done considerable newspaper writing.
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