Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ode to Strength


         Photo by Ambro via freedigitalphoto.net

What exactly is the best test of a human's overall strength?
Does it involve weight lifting or pain endurance time length?
Any time I see a non-traditional test of strength on TV,
I simply have to stop and watch a bit. It fascinates me.
Wipe Out and American Ninja are two of my favorites.
You think one day they'll have a test for distance one spits?
Someday I hope to see the wife carrying championship.
I think that would make for a most memorable trip.

Perhaps you think strength involves muscles plus power?
Doesn't matter what you lift 'less your the man of the hour?
I think this is the thought process of the Alex Baldwin type.
So then what do we make of all this Charlie Sheen hype?
He's only minimally physically fit but just won a Guinness world record.
One million Twitter followers in 25-ish hours. Is America that bored?
Does his social influence even truly symbolize strength at all?
Empires may occasionally rise quickly, but they also can fall.

Or maybe the ultimate proof is the ability to rise from the dead.
One Oklahoma shelter puppy has done just that, or so they said.
The adorable Wall-e seems immune to euthanasia.
Awesome to think your DNA could truly save ya.
I wonder if they could channel that source to create a cure
for the emotional and mental pain some people must endure.
I think those heart scarred warriors are the strongest and bravest.
Their trials poo-poo our grandiose tests to procure the greatest.

© Rachel Hoyt 2011




Do you want your links to appear within a rhyme?
Participate in a Smiley Sociology Study sometime!


This rhyme is being shared in One Shot Poetry #36.
Click on the link above to fulfill your poetry fix.

I'm also sharing this couplet on Inside my Poem Book.
To learn how to write one, come over and take a look.
Technorati Tags:
, , , , ,

29 comments:

  1. A blistering blast of contemporary society - ridiculous to see the many things we entertain ourselves, and to think of the many things yet to come. Always something new and crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your rhyming poetry ~ always makes me smile ~ even when about the turmoil/ridicule that is Charlie Sheen at the moment. Let's hope he can pull himself together~ and become stronger because of it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CHARLIE SHEeEeEN...NOOO, not you too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. perhaps true strength is found in what others consider weak...

    ReplyDelete
  5. A poem of power.There is so much to think about in your poem...r u a researcher by any kind ?.I feel sometime poeters have the tendency to know every solution to some mystery.I DO...and I see you do too

    ReplyDelete
  6. Strength is when the challenge of an obstacle of any kind and one takes on that challenge whether successful or not and 'success' is a relative term.
    One example: the challenge of refraining from using an expletive like ...poo poo!(LOL)

    Wonderful exposure or expose

    ReplyDelete
  7. Should have read '...when there's a challenge of anykind...'

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rachel,
    A cure for the emotional and mental pain would be the greatest.....

    Love the article

    Jessica

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rachel, strength is not always in the physical body, but can be found in the spirit and mind as well:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I believ strength is inside you the human spirit. Not muscle or physical power. Simply grear poem as ever

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thought provoking post, Rachel. Witty, humorous, and also very telling in regard to the current social and pop cultural climate. Had to click on the links. Thought you were kidding about the wife carrying competition. lol Now the surviving dog, I noticed an ad on the sidebar of that web page with ET (The Extra Terrestrial, not the TV show)on it. The dog and ET have similar alien eyes, so that could explain that one. lol Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Chris G. - I agree! There is always something weird or strange to see.

    @Louise & Wanda - Yes, yes... I just HAD to mention Charlie. He is the subject of way too much wacky news right now to completely ignore him. BUT, I refuse to "glorify" him with an entire rhyme. Because, between me and the Chuckster... I'm WINNING!!! :)

    @Brian - I completely agree. Those that appear weak are often quite strong.

    @Uma - I have never been employed as a researcher, but did a few studies in college while earning my degree in Sociology. I definitely see those skills coming out in my everyday life more and more. I cannot help observing and drawing conclusions (my main form of "research").

    @nene - poo poo is an expletive now?! :) LOL. And, yes, "standing up to a challenge" would be one good definition of strength. :)

    @Jessica - Heck ya! Bring on the magic pills!!! :)

    @Mary & @baldychaz - I agree. Mental and spiritual strength are much harder to acheive and maintain (for most pepole) than physical strength. Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  13. @dustus - Thanks! I'm glad you found it to be a good mix of silly and serious. :) And, I totally thought the wife carrying competition was fake when I first heard about it too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your words are more powerful than mere muscle. love it

    Cheers A

    ReplyDelete
  15. Power packed stuff, Rachel!! More than any I have ever seen (on those WWE riots on TV)!!
    Awesome slap on the face for poor li'l rich society!

    Loved the last 4 lines THE MOST!!
    Too good a poem, my dear... too good!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Coincidences catch my attention.

    I was reading "The Story of The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton" by Charles Dickens just yesterday and saw the following passage:

    "He saw that women, the tenderest and most fragile of all God's creatures, were the oftenest superior to sorrow, adversity, and distress; and he saw that it was because they bore, in their own hearts, an inexhaustible well-spring of affection and devotion."

    It struck home with me because it rang true and echoed the sentiment of my recent post, "The Ascension of The Goddess".

    (Talk about power!)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I have to grin when I think of my strong husband and all the times he's carried me up our steps because my legs couldn't do it on their own over the past months. Here, here for Wife Carrying Champions!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. i'm usually not the one to really get into rhymes,but this is good stuff.the pentameter is strong as well as the message!don't believe the Charlie Sheen hype!lol

    ReplyDelete
  19. I think the biggest strength comes from within. Great post Rachel and I loved the reading the comments..oh one more thing..Charlie Sheen..no,no!

    ReplyDelete
  20. @Alejandro - Thanks! Words are definitely powerful things. :)

    @Kavita - Too good? Nah, I could never do that. (*blushes*)

    @Eric - Thanks for sharing that passage. Beautiful. :)

    @Mama Zen - Glad you liked it and agree with the sentiment. :)

    @LauraX - You've been helping him train and didn't even know it! :)

    @wordz - That means a lot to me that you find my rhyme "not typical". :)

    @Nelieta - I agree that true strength comes from within. I need that strength to even ponder working on my physical strength. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  21. My favorite line was on Charlie Sheen... "Is American that bored"??? Love it:)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Reading your rhyme
    has always sublime
    poetic inclination to
    a heart's divine...

    Thank you for inspiring me always...;)

    ReplyDelete
  23. That was an interesting essay on strength. To me the most important is inner strength. Of course that's the hardest to measure. And you never know how much you have until it's truly challenged.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Lovely Couplets Rachel! As for me ,I admire Mental strength than Physical strength..you know what , we women's are blessed with the special Mental strength higher than men's...

    Those men reading this : you have to accept this truth...just one example : imagine giving birth (or) handle stress at home (among relations)

    ReplyDelete
  25. @Debra - I'm glad you like my Charlie Sheen line. We are definitely either a very bored nation or a completely heartless one to be laughing at and encouraging further antics from a man who is obviously very mentally unwell.

    @Jorie - It's rhymes like yours that keep me bubbly. They make me oh so happy. :)

    @Madeline and Uma - I completely agree the mental strength is tougher to acheive and that we women were bred to be stronger in that way. :) (Sorry men...)

    ReplyDelete
  26. @Jingle - Thanks for visiting! Glad you liked it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Fun, thoughtful, effective - as always.

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Steve - So glad I fulfill your expectations frequently enough to deserve an "as always"! :)

    ReplyDelete

Rhyming or not, I would like a lot to hear the thoughts my words brought...