Frank Johnson

Life’s to be lived so live for today
or carpe diem if your Latin’s OK
and don’t lose the will to live or say
life ain’t worth living coz you only live once
and life’s too short, as we’re here today
gone tomorrow and from cradle to grave
ain’t that long a stay and life is a cabaret,
old chum, the best things in life are free,
living is easy with eyes closed
and life’s not about how many breaths you take
but the moments that take your breath away
so live and let live, eat, drink and be merry
and let tomorrow look after itself,
our little life being rounded with a sleep,
and life, what is it but a dream
which is not to say life can’t be cruel
as nothing is certain but death and taxes
and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
and all our yesterdays
are not today, thank you,
so look lively coz he came to save the living
not the dead, and live as if every day was your last
although it’s not a matter of life or death
(it’s more important than that) and
remembering God writes straight on crooked lives
live life to the full

stop

Frank Johnson lives in Coventry, England. In addition to poetry, his interests include painting and learning Irish. More of his poetry can be found at ashortspell.com/francopomes-2

Career: postman; postal and telegraph officer; registrar of births, deaths and marriages; polytechnic/university administrator; interpreter and translator (from Czech and Portuguese); retired.

Poetry publications: 2013: Boscombe Revolution; 2023: AUB International Poetry Competition, highly commended; Erbacce Press, ten poems, highly commended; 2024: Frogmore Papers, Swerve; 2025: Locofo Anti-Trump Anthology: Poems for Freedom; Wildfire Words; Waltham Forest Poetry Competition: 1st Prize for funny poem.

This poem appeared in What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On — Winter 2026, published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project. We’ll be featuring each poem from the collection individually in the weeks ahead. You can read the full collection or download a free PDF of the chapbook here.