• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
No Result
View All Result
Home Poetry Beauty

‘This Is the Choice’: A Poem by Michael Charles Maibach

June 23, 2023
in Beauty, Culture, Poetry
A A
5
poem/maibach/beauty
.

This Is the Choice 

The gates of hell
Closed from within.
No one sends us—
We lock ourselves in.
.
The gates of Heaven
Are open and true,
Welcoming souls who
Choose to walk through.
.
This is the choice—
One all of us make.
God will walk with us,
If His path we take.
.
.
.
Michael Charles Maibach began writing poems at age nine.  Since then he has continued writing poems, and sharing them with friends.  His career has involved global business diplomacy.  He is a native of Peoria, Illinois.  Today Michael resides in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.  More of his poems are found at www.MaibachPoems.us or on Facebook.
ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here
Next Post
poem/wasem/culture

'In Extremis' and Other Poetry by Adam Wasem

poem/erlandson/culture

'Job’s Rant' and Other Poetry by Cynthia Erlandson

poem/tweedie/culture

A Poem on San Francisco: 'Even the 49ers Don’t Play There Anymore' by James A. Tweedie

Comments 5

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson says:
    2 years ago

    The first verse reminds me of the song, “Hotel California.” “You may check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.” Pithy poem with a clear message.

    Reply
  2. David Whippman says:
    2 years ago

    A concise reminder – whatever one’s faith – that we have choices, and they have consequences.

    Reply
  3. James Sale says:
    2 years ago

    Thanks Michael – it’s very true that people choose to go to hell and override their own consciences – thanks for the pithy reminder!

    Reply
  4. Joshua C. Frank says:
    2 years ago

    Yes, people wonder how a merciful God can send people to Hell. The fact is that people who commit grave sins reject God’s mercy because they prefer living away from God and His love, and the only place where that can happen in Hell.

    In fact, some theologians believe Heaven and Hell are the same place, that the fires of Hell are God’s light, which those who reject Him hate.

    Reply
  5. Margaret Coats says:
    2 years ago

    Brief and pointed, Michael. “This is the choice/One all of us make.” Isn’t that the truth! The difficulty is choosing God’s path when such a vast number of us choose our own opinions as to “what I think is God’s path.” May more of us have the humility to consider this matter with the greatest care.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Yulia Nova on ‘Seeing Shen Yun in Milwaukee’: A Poem by Yulia NovaNovember 26, 2025

    Patrick, thank you so much for your thoughtful words. I’m really glad the deeper layers came through for you —…

  2. Marguerite on ‘I Don’t Know’ and Other Poetry by Russel WinickNovember 26, 2025

    Russel, I always enjoy your poems!

  3. Margaret Coats on ‘Cetus and Jonah’s Lament’: A Poem by James SaleNovember 26, 2025

    James, I know you know the story of Jonah and the whale and the gourd plant (or whatever kind of…

  4. C.B. Anderson on ‘The Ground of Being’: A Poem by Josh MitteldorfNovember 26, 2025

    The first two lines pretty much sum up the single truest idea about our universe, in my opinion, and I…

  5. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘Meeting Alexander’: A Poem by David WhippmanNovember 26, 2025

    This is a good poem with excellent rhymes and solid metrics. It is a rhetorical apostrophe to an absent person.…

Facebook Twitter Youtube

Archive

Categories

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Submit Poetry
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books

© 2025 SCP. WebDesign by CODEC Prime.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.