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You Can't Take It With You

Squander your wealth on selfish wants,
Spend it all with no regrets,
Because taking it with you,
You might as well forget,

No you can’t take it with you,
And you won’t be coming back,
This much I know for sure,
Cause I ain’t never seen a Hearse with a luggage rack,

No you can’t take it with you,
This much is plain,
Because your dead,
So what use would you have for it anyway,

Spend your money,
Or give it to a friend,
Don’t worry about how much it costs,
Because you won’t care in the end,

Live life to it’s fullest,
Leave no stone unturned,
Dance inside the fire,
So you know what it’s like to get burned,

Cause if you don’t,
Then you won’t know,
What joys may come of it,
And you’ll have no scars to show,

When you get to heaven,
Or hell as it might be,
You will be an outcast,
And everybody will stare at you with glee,

Cause if you think about it real careful like,
A thought will emerge,
Who has lived a fuller life,
The saint or the scourge,

The man who loves his life,
And all those he has in it,
Might feel as though his life was grand,
But his fire was barely lit,

And the guy who hates the world,
And everything within,
Who kills and steals for just mere thrills,
Will end feeling naught but chagrin,

Instead you need a balance,
Of the two of these in you,
A little heaven and a little hell,
Will leave you smiling when death comes due,

Don’t love too much,
And hate too little,
Or vice versa,
But you need to find a spot somewhere right there in the middle,

Leave this world at peace and know,
That life and death,
Like all things,
Must come and go.
— zjeakin, Apr 24, 2010

About This Poem

About the Author

Region, Country: Crawford, Colorado

Favorite Poets: Edgar Allen Poe

More from this author

Critiques

Ravenshakti

Ravenshakti

16 years 1 month ago

Hello there...

Words of Wisdom, indeed... Your poem carries such an exquisite insight... You express yourself in this poem, with just the right touch of intensity and lightness... Beautiful and beautifully done! Gentle regards, Raven "There is no dark side of the Moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark." -Pink Floyd
zjeakin

zjeakin

16 years 1 month ago

Thank you so much for taking

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. You give a great deal of praise for something that I haven't even finished yet. I have three more stanzas to add, but I couldn't make them work so I took them off while I work on them some. Thank you again for your feedback, Zack
Kailashana

Kailashana

16 years 1 month ago

Amen. Tequilla Cowboy.

Amen. Tequilla Cowboy. Please never ride off into the sunset. The middle way has nothing to say, and so it says everything. Brilliant write! Some of the best folks are firewo/men... walking into a fire...which reminds me... many great lines but this one: "dance inside the fire so you know what it's like to get burned" is simply superb! (Were in my mind last night... the poem I was working on had similar lines.) Just some typos to amend... don't love too much and hate too little the saint or the scourge(d) ? and thee just isn't right imo, how about *whole heartedly* to keep the rhyme? ~Anna p.s. Fancy meeting you on this brilliant page, Raven... with Pink Floyd's words I've used as my signature line in the past. ;-) Brilliant minds and open hearts are a real thing that can be *experienced*, en masse, eh? "The plain man is familiar with blindness and deafness, and knows from his everyday experience that the look of things is influenced by his senses, but it never occurs to him to regard the whole world as a creation of his senses." ~ Ernst Mach
zjeakin

zjeakin

16 years 1 month ago

Thank you for taking the

Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond. I will correct the typos as soon as I figure out how to. The only thing that I won't change is the line "the saint or the scourge". I used the word scourge as a reference to Attila the Hun, who was called by the Catholic church "The Scourge of God". Once again, thank you for taking the time to give some constructive criticism, it's much appreciated. Zack
Kailashana

Kailashana

16 years 1 month ago

Well, THAT I can understand

Well, THAT I can understand since I'm Hungarian and a recovering Catholic. rofl. Perhaps if it refers to a person you should capitalize Scourge. ~A "The plain man is familiar with blindness and deafness, and knows from his everyday experience that the look of things is influenced by his senses, but it never occurs to him to regard the whole world as a creation of his senses." ~ Ernst Mach
Ravenshakti

Ravenshakti

16 years 1 month ago

Hello again, Tequila Cowboy...

And Hello Anna... fancy meeting you too on this lovely page of Cowboys'... I guess I borrowed your signature line for a little bit... And Brilliant Hearts and Open Minds are a real thing too; A wonder to experience...yes? Good to feel your Presence, Anna... And Tequila Cowboy, thank you... Gentle regards, Raven A poet in ecstasy is a beautiful thing to behold... And a better thing to be.