Struggle Poems
A Race with My Mind
by Yasmeen Kamel
The stars don't shine as bright tonight,
Their distant glow can't feel the fight,
The struggle to keep it together,
And not feel under the weather,
The struggle to keep a smile on my face,
When it feels like I'm in a race,
A race with my thoughts and emotions,
......
A song
by Wieslaw Musialowski
Translated by Przemyslaw Musialowski 9/28/2019
Dream, my Love, dream life,
let the night not scare you anymore,
we survived harder days before,
we survived more difficult years.
I could only give as much as
life itself was offering
when I still had enough strength
......
Railway Platform
by Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar
First, fast and fittest
Countless sperms crawl in the ovum
Of the pregnant platform;
They carry the large baggage
Of their responsibility
Trying to come into the crowded pits
Of chugging bogies
Or gliding out of suffocating air
To live alive, survive and stay proven
The first, the fast and the fittest.
......
Shattered Echoes
by siwar ben amara
Daddy, where were you when I was just a child,
A perfect little girl, eager and mild?
I didn't ask for much—just a look, a touch—
But you slipped away; was I asking too much?
Were you running from her, from her bitter flame?
But what about me—did you even know my name?
I lied to everyone, said we were close,
......
No gain without pain- a Runner’s tale
by Dr. Robert Ippaso
Legs pumping, muscles screaming
Eyes transfixed, seeing but not seeing,
Mind wandering sometimes dreaming
Heart thumping, loudly beating.
Body glistening, pace increasing,
No thought other than just breathing,
Inner voice gently pleading,
It's against me that you're competing.
Hardened gaze, resolve seeking
Any thought of slowing down but fleeting,
......
Reprieve
by Jen Wright
Heal, my heart!
Heal, my darling.
The scars are rough,
The tissue’s raw,
But pain
It has subsided,
So, heal some more!
See, my sombre mind!
See brightly,
......
A Race with My Mind
by Yasmeen Kamel
The stars don't shine as bright tonight,
Their distant glow can't feel the fight,
The struggle to keep it together,
And not feel under the weather,
The struggle to keep a smile on my face,
When it feels like I'm in a race,
A race with my thoughts and emotions,
......
Pomelo
by Kimani Hare
An even thicker rind of bitter pith,
Estranged from the serenity that lies outside its comprehension.
For what resides within is a supple flesh dissonant to its confines,
Exuding a sweet nectar that remains clothed in the abstract.
But the bitter fruit thrives in its circumstances.
......
The 'Only Child'
by Nad Sof
The 'only child'—
the one who must get all the attention,
the child whose heart is pulled in endless directions,
caught between love and expectation.
The 'only child'—
the one who struggles to understand her parents:
why her father’s anger burns so hot,
only to hear it’s because he loves her.
Why her mother’s tears spill,
......
The Day I Saw Death, and It Smiled at Me
by Christen Kuikoua
That day, as though yesterday it lingers,
The school bell rang, yet sickness clutched my fingers.
From nowhere it struck, with a pressure so deep,
My body faltered, as if yearning for sleep.
“It’s a sickness like every other,” I thought,
So I bathed, dressed, and the next morning fought.
Yet by the first class, my strength ebbed away,
To the nurse I staggered, hoping she'd delay
This strange shadow that loomed over my frame,
......
