Short Poems

The Good Life

Read these short poems about living the good life. We may all have a different definition of what constitutes the good life. Let the verses in these poems give you thoughts to consider.

The Poets share verses that have positive words about the good life; people who have experienced life give their thoughts about the good life!

Short Poems / Poems About Life / The Good Life

But is This The Good Life?
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

I bought what I wanted,
whether I needed it or not.
Whether I had the money or not.
Oh, credit cards the wonder of our time.
I ended up with material things I could ever want.
But is this the good life?
I worked 12 hour days,
Plus traveling time of 2 hours a day,
I often worked nights and weekends
I had a high paying job.
But is this the good life?

There was no time for family or friends,
On the weekends I caught up on my sleep,
Baking, cooking, cleaning, I had someone else do that.
But is this the good life?

I was stressed out most of the time,
But, we went on holidays,
We had the two cars,
And the cottage and the house.
But is this the good life?

The answer - not for me!
So I set my goals to be:
Less work, less money, but more time
I wouldn't go back, not a dime.
I have time for my family and friends,
And I am no longer rushing to the day's end.
No longer stressed, not as much strife,
This is the good life!

Rules (For A Good Life)
by John Wesley

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

What Is A Good Life
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, � 2020

"What is a good life," asked the child
That question made me think awhile
I thought of many different material things
And then questioned, do happiness they bring?

So then I thought about people, not things
It's true, relationships they bring
Much happiness and smiles too
The people who are with you through and through.

And helping others when they are down
Can bring so much to those who frown
And you get back more than you give
You can help take away the negative.

So my answer to the child,
Was one that's not so wild,
"The good life is love shared and given,
That truly is good livin'."

Better Things
by George Macdonald

Better to smell the violet cool than sip the glowing wine;
Better to hark a hidden brook than watch a diamond shine.

Better the love of gentle heart than beauty's favors proud,
Better the rose's living seed than roses in a crowd.

Better to love in loneliness than bask in love all day;
Better the fountain in the heart than the fountain by the way.

Better be fed by a mother's hand than eat alone at will;
Better to trust in God than say, My goods my storehouse fill.

Better to be a little wise than in knowledge to abound;
Better to teach a child than toil to fill perfection's round.

Better sit at a master's feet than thrill a listening state;
Better suspect that thou art proud than be sure that thou art great.

Better to walk in the realm unseen than watch the hour's event;
Better the "well done" at the last than the air with shoutings rent.

Better to have a quiet grief than a hurrying delight;
Better the twilight of the dawn than the noonday burning bright.

Better to sit at the water's birth than a sea of waves to win;
To live in the love that floweth forth than the love that cometh in.

Better a death when work is done than earth's most favored birth;
Better a child in God's great house than the king of all the earth.

Present Days The Best
Poet: C. C. Hassler

There ain't no use in kickin' 'bout the weather, for it's comin'
Just the same, an' soon we'll listen to the honey bees a hummin'.
We'll fergit about the freezin' an' the blizzards an' the snow,
When we watch the corn a sproutin' an' the taters as they grow.

There ain't no use complainin' 'bout the price of bread an' meat.
We will have to keep on payin' if we want to live an' eat.
This old world will keep on movin' an' the seasons will come 'round,
After we have all stopped livin' and are underneath the ground.

There ain't no use a sighin' 'bout the good old times of yore.
Tis the present we must tackle, as our fathers did before.
If we lived as they did — maybe — we would kick an' growl because
Things wasn't managed better by the makers of our laws.

There ain't no use a findin' faults with everyone we see.
When so many of them's showin' in the lives of you an' me.
Let us meet the clouds above us with a smilin' face an' know
God will send us fruit and flowers if we give them time to grow.

There ain't no use a growlin' till our faces are awry,
Smiles will make this old world better as the days an' years go by.
Call our present days the best days, scatter seeds of love an' share
Joys and sorrows with our neighbors an' they'll blossom everywhere.