opposites

I

The opposite of dog's not cat,
Though many people say it's that.
It's opposite is global hegemony
Which happens to be man's greatest enemy.


II

The opposite of wandering
Is sitting still and pondering,
Or being content with the place you've found,
Or following a sight or sound.

III

The opposite of noisy noise is
The same as the opposite of boyses.
But that's not each time always true,
In certain cases, such as you.


IV

I wonder what's the opposite
Of finding a pair of pants that fit?
Perhaps a load of toil and strife,
Or maybe the story of my life.


V

The opposite of God's existence
Is no object of man's resistance.

VI

The opposite of seventeen
Is the ugliest number I've ever seen.


VII

The opposite of everything
Is no outdoors or creaking swings
Or black and yellow butterflies
Or cloudless skies or pumpkin pies.

No sadly weeping willow trees,
Chrysanthemums for busy bees,
Important looking businessmen,
No daddy rooster, mamma hen.
No paperbacks to read beneath
The bedside lamp, no Christmas wreath,
No silly songs or giggling boys,
Or pretty girls, or brand new toys.

No hugs or kisses, holding hands,
No rock or jazz or classic bands,
No friends to share no secrets with,
No decent words to rhyme with with,
No fuzzy socks or wiggly toes,
No crimson, white, or yellow rose
To place upon no loved one's grave.
No lives to give, no lives to save.

No poetry to read aloud,
No raindrops and no thunderclouds.
No softly falling winter snow,
No place to come, no place to go,
No windows and no glass to break,
No lovely coloured leaves to rake.
No air to breathe, no wind to cry
A love song or a lullaby.

Nothing to strive for, nothing to be,
No eyes with which to look and see
The wonderful world in which we live.
No finds to find, no gifts to give,
No one to love, or be loved by,
No reason to laugh, no reason to cry.
No hope of Heaven, no fear of Hell,

I guess these things are just as well,
Since God made everything instead
Of nothing, which would be a dread.
I'm glad that everything exists,
Instead of all its opposites.

This is excellent - I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Perhaps the reason it has no reviews is because it's so high quality!

I have a couple of suggestions, though I don't think your poem would suffer if you chose to ignore them. First of all, the roman numerals: do they serve a purpose? They're aesthetically pleasing, but the poem has quite a fast feel to it, and they do break up the page. I don't think the piece would suffer if you removed them, unless there's a reason for them to be there?

Your use of italics is excellent, particularly towards the end where you have the run-on definition, very effective! My favourite stanza was:

"The opposite of God's existence
Is no object of man's resistance."

This is perfect, I like that it's short compared to the stanzas preceeding it. You say everything you need to say in these two lines. And this is the only one I felt unsure about:

"The opposite of seventeen
Is the ugliest number I've ever seen."

I'm sure it's supposed to seem out of place, as I assume it's a reference to your own age? It just jarred me a little as I read the poem, as every other stanza was dealing with a larger, less personal topic.

Whoa. I thought I was a good amateur poet until now! Now I'm not even amateur! This poem is awesome! I wish I would've written this...
I don't think I can critique it because I found nothing wrong with it. Absolutely fabulous job! :):D