Elise Skidmore

Things have been quiet around here lately. I want to apologize for that. Life often gets in the way, as I’m sure you’re all aware. But it’s April. Poetry Month. Time for the PAD (poem a day) challenge. As usual, I’m going to give it my best shot. I can’t promise you’ll see all of my efforts, but I promise to share the ones I like best with you. Here is day 2’s poem. I hope you enjoy.

Second Chances

I used to like bowling.
It's a game of second chances;
you get not one, but two tries
to knock down all the pins.
It's great, of course, 
to get a strike on the first try
and watch the pins fly.
Do it enough times in a row 
for a perfect score
and they put your name 
on a plaque for eternity.

Life is a lot like bowling.
You get lots of chances 
to get it right.
Getting it perfect in life
is even harder than in bowling. 
In fact, it's pretty much impossible.
But if you keep at it,
you can come darn close sometimes.
Sometimes you're so absorbed in life,
you don't notice how close to perfect it can be.
Nobody usually engraves your name on a plaque;
you have to engrave those perfect moments
on your heart 
and hope you remember what you did that got you there.

I think the secret of bowling—and life,
is in the remembering what you did
and make good use of all
your second chances.

~Elise Skidmore ©2022