Practical (Ly) Advice Poem by Joseph DeMarco

Just because the plane has landed
And the pilot has turned off the fasten seat belt sign
Does not mean you should hurry to get out of your seat,
It will be five minutes before they open the hatch
And an additional ten minutes before all people in front of you
Clear out of the way,
So sit back, enjoy being safe and sound on the ground.

Just because you're late for something
Doesn’t mean you have to speed and rush,
Putting yourself in frivolous danger.
It would be foolish, not to mention pointless,
To accidentally kill yourself because you’re late for work.

Just because others are cutting ahead along the shoulder,
Causing traffic to back up much further,
Doesn’t mean you have to contribute to the jam.

Just because you’re at restaurant
That’s serving an all you can eat special
Doesn’t mean you have to stuff your face
Until you think you’re going to throw up.
If you’re full now,
Your stomach was full fifteen minutes ago.

Just because you have a tongue
Doesn’t mean you should talk.
How many cliches talk about silence
“Silence is golden, ”
“Talk is cheap, ”
“The angry man opens his mouth and closes his eyes.”
Just because you have wonderous freedom of speech
Doesn’t mean you should exercise it by being ignorant.

I often think about what it was like before plants learned to flower,
And wonder if humans will ever learn to flower.