Comment from lightink

Excellent

Why? Just because we die? ;)
It's a thought provoking poem! It took me a second to see the full depth!
The satisfaction doesn't lie in those object but with death it shall all pass...
Wow! The inconvenient truth!
Great writing!

 Comment Written 15-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 15-Apr-2016

Thanks, Lightink, for the lovely review. It's a well-worn saying, but true nevertheless - "you can't take it with you". That's part of it, the other part is how much satisfaction do we really get from the endless pursuit of material things for ourselves? Plenty of rich people commit suicide...

I really appreciate you checking out my poem, thanks again :)
Craig

reply by lightink on 15-Apr-2016

I know that saying, but your words brought a whole new life into it...

Comment from Gloria ....

Excellent

Lots of truth in this 3 line poem, Craig. We do tend to like our "stuff and things". And of course the more disposable income a person has, the larger the stuff and things are. But still, a person really only needs one car and I've still yet to understand the need for a yacht, but then what do I know? ;-)

Super job with this and best wishes to you in the contest.

Gloria

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Thanks, Gloria :)

Personally, I'm quite attached to my car and my yacht, but I think three or four of either is excessive!

(I am so kidding...)

Much appreciated,
Craig

reply by Gloria .... on 14-Apr-2016

I'm rather fond of my personal jet too, but I hide it in the garage so as not to arouse envy among the neighbours.

reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Either that's a tiny jet, or your garage is just ludicrously big. Shame on you for having such a big garage!

Comment from Jim Lorson Sr

Excellent

This is an excellent contest entry that somehow describes me. I was an obsessive compulsive personality. Bought things that I didn't need, but couldn't live without. Got help to overcome this disorder and now, I only buy what I really need.

I wish you much luck with this contest and thank you for sharing this.

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

I think all of us suffer from that to some extent, Jim. But for some, yes it can become debilitating. I'm glad you were able to overcome it :) Thanks for the lovely review and good wishes. Craig

Comment from --Turtle.

Excellent

You chose a potent topic for this short poem, a thinking poem.

Reading this poem, the first thing I thought was beanie babies... then I dug a little deeper... there was this short story I remember reading in high school... I think it was titled something like, how much land does a man need? Which was about a man killing himself trying to acquire just a little more land... only to answer the question, about 6 feet.

The use of ephemeral, first, does a good job of activating curiosity and engaging the thinking centers of the brain. I had to look up the word. : )

I summed it up with, short lived... which is why I think I thought about beanie babies. You can't get much more not only short lived, but generally absolutely unneeded. But much of everything in the grand scheme of things is only around for so long.

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Haha.... sounds like a great story, Turtle. I'd love to try and track it down if you can remember anything about it.

I've seen a few things recently about people who have acquired ridiculously vast amounts of money. One was on houses of the uber-rich, where a single room can be worth many millions, and then I started thinking about what else they could be doing with that money. Someone - I don't recall who - once said (to paraphrase) "Being rich doesn't make you happy, but it makes being miserable a lot more tolerable." I'm not sure I agree. But anyway... thanks for a great review :)

Craig

reply by --Turtle. on 14-Apr-2016

Leo Tolstoy, 1886 ... How much land does a man need? Wasn't the strongest write, but I remembered reading it... and I read it well before 1996, ... I think I only remember three or four stories from my high school English book. (I call them my tramautizing reads... as they usually evoke a strong reaction, probably because I was young and impressionable.)

reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

I just read the story - your memory is excellent, you got the title word perfect, I see. A nice little tale with a moral that it pays to give heed to - thanks, Turtle :)

Comment from ciliverde

Excellent

Interesting commentary on our collections and the transient place they take in our lives. Yes, I snooped your notes. You're good at these short forms, packing interesting thoughts in few words. Nice job!
Carol

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Thanks, Carol - much appreciated!

I have a tendency to ramble when I write non-fiction, and possibly even stories and longer poems, so it's good practice for me :)

Cheers,
Craig

Comment from Chris Walker

Excellent

Great entry in the 3 line poem contest, I like this micro poem. These three lines convey the observation of how we live our lives collecting things we don't really need. Isn't ephemeral a lovely word?! Good luck in the contest. Chris

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Thanks, Chris, for the lovely review. To be honest, I chose that word in preference to a number of synonyms because of the syllable count - but it seems to be a popular choice :) Thank you for the good wishes - Craig

Comment from catch22

Excellent

HI Craig, I really like this poem because it packs a great message into such a short form and doesn't read unnaturally or stilted. It's also shows great word economy and the word "ephemeral" is awesome.

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Hi Catch22 :)

Originally I wanted to use "transient", but then I realised that although I say that as a 3 syllable word (trans-ee-ent), most Americans regard it as 2 syllables (trans-yent)- and I didn't want to fall foul of the CEC on syllable count! I'm glad you like "ephemeral" though, it makes me feel better. Thanks for the great comments - Craig

reply by catch22 on 14-Apr-2016

You're very welcome. It has a very mystical tone to it.

Comment from tfawcus

Excellent

Much profundity in this little offering! We seem to define ourselves by the things we own, when all along, the only really important definition is what we are and what we do.

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Well said, Tony. Thanks for the kind review, Craig

Comment from jusylee72

Excellent

this is very well said in a very short poem. I like the illustration also. Now I want to go home and clean out my closets. I hope I stay motivated and actually do that. Thank you.

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

It was partially prompted by my need to do something similar. Thanks, jusylee :) Craig

Comment from ~Dovey

Excellent

Hi Craig,

Now why did I read the title to this piece and think this poem was going in a complete other direction? lol This does speak to the habits of the material world. I knew we were headed in a different direction from the artwork lol

Good luck in this contest :)

Kim

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2016

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2016

Where did you think it was going? Shame on you lol

Thanks for the fun review and good wishes, Kim.

Craig