Rusted, Not Busted

Posted for a variety of prompts:

Camera Critters (photo)
Monday Mural (Black-Eyed Susan photo”)
One Single Impression (“folly”)
Simply Snickers (“total,” “tradition” and ”triumph”)
Slice of Life Sunday (“My Earliest Childhood Memory,” “I Thought I Was Invincible” or “Writer’s Choice”)
Sunday Scribblings (“Do I have to?”)
Totally Optional Prompts (“lost stuff”)
Word Beads (“mop,” “prism,” “rehearse,” “temporary” and “versa”)
Wordless Wednesday’s Sunday edition

Rusted, Not Busted
(A Tractor's Folly)

A vintage tractor, long past prime,
I moved some mountains in my time.
Yet newer models have replaced
My usefulness, so I’ve been aced.

My stuff is lost; I cannot roar.
My turbo traction is no more.
They parked me here beside a weed,
Assuming I will go to seed.

But do I have to? Will I stall?
Need I a total overhaul?
Just mop the grime and grease away.
‘Tis folly, but I want to play.

My total triumph would be toil,
Digging through the deepest soil.
Invincible, I claimed to be.
Why have they tossed away my key?

My temporary work rehearsed,
I stand beside the field, accursed.
My lamps reflect the sun, as prisms,
Seeking use, not skepticisms.

Tradition, timed, vice versa, calls
Although my engine stops and stalls.
I want to work. I simply must.
‘Tis better to burn out than rust.¹

¹ “It's better to burn out than it is to rust.”
Quotation from Neil Young’s 1979 song, “My, My, Hey, Hey (Out of the Blue),”
from the Rust Never Sleeps album.

Love poetry? Check out Simply Snickers, a brand-new weekly poetry prompt. Try your hand with weekly prompts! Or, look into The Meme Express for daily blogging prompts.

Click here to visit Linda Ann Nickerson’s poetry and humor blog, Nickers and Ink.

Click here to subscribe to an RSS feed for this writer's helpful Helium content. If you wish, click here for a free subscription to this author's online AC content, so you won't miss a single post!