A Monday Morning Dichotomy

A poem I wrote for a recent nation-wide competition. The criteria: 50 lines or less and centred around the following topic: 'Joy in the Morning.'

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If through cotton sheers the sun breaks, over the sky a light blue takes,

Then a joyous morning is awaiting me.

If cloud cover is darkened grey, glum dejection is on its way,

Delight registers itself an absentee,

Within me.

If arrays of birds are tweeting, and on leaves the wind is beating,

Then my eyelids creep open with ecstasy.

If the sound of nearby roadworks, or the clatter of traffic jerks,

Marred by maliciousness, the morning may be.

You will see.

When coffee trails are in the air, and sourdough has just turned fair,

Then the daybreak livens with my mug and toast.

If the beans have sadly soured, and the baked bread has not flowered,

Within my own a sluggishness rains utmost.

It’s morose.

If I am startled by a purr, and am brushed by with faint cat fur,

Then I’d surely stir with sprightly elation.

But if my cat was still napping, and refused to come a tapping,

Of the morning I’d feel sincere damnation.

Frustration.

If the warm body of my bride, was to be curled up by my side,

Then blissful tranquillity, I’d have ample.

If her side was sadly barren, and of me she did abandon,

By an unsettling sorrow, I am trampled.

Dismantled.

When I notice life’s real beauty, while I rise as it’s my duty,

Then it seems that the world greets me with delight.

But when I impassion distastes, and positivity’s misplaced,

With ill thoughts I do squander all of my might.

A true plight.

So focus on the present awes, our outlook tends to be the cause,

For the way that we receive the day ahead.

These thoughts are likened to a plant, with ignored thoughts – a death you grant,

And those that are watered will flourish and spread,

Aforesaid.

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Poetry typically comes easy to me; however, I have only ever penned poems in the heat of a moment. Never on queue, within a time-frame, and restricted in line volume and subject. It was quite difficult.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!