perseverance poems

Life's Eight Count – A Poem by Roy Pullam

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Life is a dance
At first simple steps
The movement minimal
Almost disconnected
To the music
The tempo lifts
As experience
In the ballroom
Demands more craft
More freedom
Yet more form
No one claims
To be the choreographer
But all demand
A certain rhythm
A certain conformity
To match others
On the floor
At times I feel lost
Out of step
Trying to find
The beat
Confused
By the melody
But no matter
How poorly I perform
I must keep going
Until
The music stops

Making It to the Top | Mary Bone

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We’ve made it through
a hard, uphill climb,
just to make another dime.
We do what we have to do,
putting up with hullabaloo,
just to make it to the top.
After we get there,
we never stop.

Ride On | Oluwasalvage Archibong

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I will like to live an afterglow of smiles
when life is done
like an echo whispering softly down
an empty hall.
When it rains, it rains with vengeance
and when the harmattan strikes,
you can’t smile naturally without bleeding.
Upon my head is a freight
heavier than a fermented cassava
that makes me stagger like a blind drunkard.
Can there ever be sweet without sweat?
Will my tears of grief
dry up before the sun tucks into the cloud?
I would fly away with the wings of fortune
to the remotest sea; sit quietly at its bank and
relax with the loud silence of nature.
May the morning mobs the evils that survived the night.
I shall be resolute regardless
and stick my head above like a Nazi’s prisoner.
Just like the River keeps flowing,
i will keep moving on.

No Retreats | Jonathan Abayo

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I sat beside
The quite stream
Tortoising and calm
Thrilled in mind
Aha! I heard a tune
A baby on mummy’s laps
Such was a giant spirit
No longer utter
Should I!
Would I!
Could I!
State of winning composure
Overwhelmed with failures
And discouraged with petty gains
I’m an ant, I’ll move on
I’m a lion so aggressive
My attitudes Leopard to sober
Hare in decision
I see future like giraffe
Tougher elephant
I don’t wanna be a Buffalo
Conscious antelope
I’m Kilimanjaro
I’m Everest
Call me Amazon
I’m Ngorongoro
My name is Atlantic
Call me Indian
Label me Pacific
Place my world Africa
My feet on America
My walks on Europe
Asia shout me universe
No limit on Earth,
Jupiter, Mars, shoot up Pluto
State of mind humour
Tragedy my experience
No regrets Sun
You have morning
You have afternoon
Let the night awhile
And shine your smile
Like Savanna blossoms
Bliss and twinkle
Everyday is tomorrow

Small Steps | Lindsay Rappaport

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Try, try, try.
Work, work, work.

Nothing happens.
Treading water.

Falling into a deep state
Of depression.

Nothing happens,
Even less happens.

Awake to the realization
You are worth more.

Small steps leading
To wonderful things.

Keep Writing | Donetta Sifford

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Keep writing.
When morning carries
songs of birds on sunshine,
keep writing.
As night wraps darkness
around your tired body,
keep writing.
If you’ve bled on paper
only to receive rejection,
keep writing.
Friends may politely scan
over your words unsmiling,
keep writing.
Even if you write to clear
your head, mindfulness,
meditation, for your peace
of mind and your sanity,
keep writing.

More at https://donettas.wordpress.com/.

Paradox | Stan Morrison

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i often imagine stumbling upon a new truth
that would change the course of humanity
I rely that no one else ever reads my stuff
no chance of my verses ever going viral
a posthumous find might showcase my genius
the uncertainty keeps my mind guessing
my thoughts are safe with me, no problem
for now.

Compass | Diane Woodward Dorff

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sometimes it is best not to raise your eyes
to the horizon to the world above and beyond
and far to the east and west and north and south
sometimes it is best to keep your eyes straight ahead
to your brothers and sisters and all the children
growing up around you

for I cannot travel far
and I am only a symbol a cypher
to those who hold the reins
who grip the steering wheel
but this is my world our world
and I will welcome all
and I will hold on tight

I Will Return | Wanjiru Wa Ngugi

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I will return,
One day I will,
Not because I lack guile,
But because of the need to be invigorated,
Oh yes I will return,
It will be enlivening I know,
Full of energy and enthusiasm,
My vivacity will be unheard of,
Full of uniqueness and gusto,
Not because I have made it,
But because rising and falling are a way of life,
I fall and rise in the same measure,
I will return,
Lacking sophistication no more,
Until I get there,
where my heart will be at ease,
Oh yes I will return.

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