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,
......
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,
......
A Song Of Gratitude
by Christen Kuikoua
In the tapestry of time, where friendships bloom,
Mes amis, like petals, dispelling life's gloom.
Brothers, firm anchors in the sea of existence,
Une soeur agaçante, a tempest, a relentless insistence.
Parents, the roots, firmly grounding my being,
Leaves of wisdom, in the breeze, foreseeing.
Enemies, shadows that dance in the moonlit night,
Igniting the fire, propelling toward the light.
......
A Roses’ Kiss
by B DEWITT
Born in spring.
Vibrantly coloured and as open as the flames of passion;
truly regaling as life’s lover.
And yet,
dead by winter.
Harsh to touch and as crimson
as blood.
Contained within is a blackened heart; shrivelled, old, withered, and weak.
......
The Train of Freedom
by Khayelihle Bongiswa Gamedze
Just how far is the train of freedom from the discriminated son?
Just how far is the train of freedom from the black homeless child?
Just how far is the train of freedom from the disabled poet?
And just how far are the winds of change from a corrupted nation!?
Just how far is the train of freedom from the fields of Waterloo?
Just how far is the struggling warrior from the mountain top?
Just how long is 365 days 27 times behind bars, I mean,
Just how far is freedom from a lonely child at play?...
......
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,
......
Life´s path,a battle between ups and downs
by Mario Odekerken
Life´s path winds like a river,
twisting through valleys of despair and peaks of joy.
Each step forward feels both heavy and light,
the ground beneath shifting,uncertain.
We climb mountains of ambition,
only to stumble in the shadows of doubt,
moments of clarity fleeting,
as we navigate the storms within.
......
