As I Steady My Ship Poem by John Sensele

The laughter I laugh
In circumstances I weigh
Though they play tough
When without delay I play

The music tunes and melodies I enjoy
To delight my ribs
With tactful tactics I employ
When I visit congenial cribs

Where someone I trust
Enjoins me to retain
The fun in the bust and crust
Whose admiration and passion I attain and ascertain

Within cultural confines I respect
As a matter of preference and taste at best
For proportions and dimensions I inspect
Without any haste or distaste

I measure in pleasures I sample
Within the context of standards I maintain
In times supple and ample
Enough to retain and contain

The sophistication I display
In matters of arts I admire
As visions of aesthetics I slay with no further delay
To fire and retire

First impressions in missions of the hope
In mundane concerns I detect
On the slope whose drop I grope
For contours and silhouettes I protect

When in a sudden twist of fate
I pronounce myself ready
To cancel the date I hate
As my retirement from dissipation grows steady.