Standards To Value Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Opportunities to have lost,
At the cost...
Of disappearing dignities,
And identities long tossed away.
Have been blamed on the expense,
Of keeping up appearances.

And yet those appearances kept,
Just to impress.
Has had less to do,
With who chooses to use their minds...
To make and create,
Their own opportunities to find them found.

Without awaiting for someone else,
To declare where they are and made to make,
Available to inspect and accept them to take.
Whether or not they reflect expectations.
Or standards to value prioritized,
Long gone to be felt inside.