Far From | M Spear
Far from where
we should be –
Far from where
we are headed –
The journey will
take us as we
support each other
through the loops.
perseverance poems
Pit | Alan Inman
I will climb
the edges of this
pit, finding my own
stairs in its ragged
walls,
I will not stay low
forever
as some may hope,
but rise,
always rise up
to the yellow light.
We Made It! | Mary Bone
We survived by the sweat
of the brow,
and the milk of a cow.
We made it somehow!
Larger Than Life | Kenneth Vincent Walker
From the mundane
To the profound you
Approach everything
With style. Those who
Know your name can
Attest to this fun fact.
Though branches may
Be broken and scars
Show their tracks. Ways
To hide the fine cracks
You’ve come to master
Even though you fight
Depression behind bars
Of your laughter and wit,
Which is no big disaster,
Because you are larger
Than that, larger than life.
Even birds chitter-chatter
At the sight of your light.
So upon your departure
Burn brightly, burn bright.
Murk | Nate Maye
I push
through darkness
through unkindness
through my doubt
past my own portrait
past bad news
past inconsistencies
into a light
I hope I find.
No Island of Escape | G. Louis Heath
There is no island on the rivers, nor in
The lakes or seas, or in abstruse clouds
To escape the plagues of humankind.
All bear the black dog on their backs
As shadow nibbles mountain, plain, and
Valley to our doors. Yes, the megrims
Bite deep but we must carry on against
The plagues that beset us. The way is
Hard, strewn with mighty windfalls and
Boulders, on a high, torturous route, each
Step precarious. We hunger for the meadow,
Open to all. There we can enfold one unto
Another, build bridges of spirit and act, to
Deny the evil days of barbarous annihilation.
Ultimate Question | Sravani Singampalli
As you walk along the road
The light keeps on fading
Dusk keeps on advancing
You start losing hope
You stop.
When we face failures
We get depressed
We just isolate ourselves
We stop working
But do we do the same thing
When our vehicle runs out of fuel?
Addict's Oath | G. Louis Heath
I inhale, I snort, I swallow all substances
Legal and illegal that liberate me from my
Paradoxes. I sniff chemicals to close the
Space between what I wanted to be and the
What-I-am. I surrendered in self-loathing to
The what-I-am. I must acknowledge this
White flag and raise a red one. Red marks
The path to recovery. My feet must find that
Path and walk it with all the help I can muster.
Your Fighting Game | Krushna Chandra Mishra
Then just call me
if you feel I’ll be of help
or go your way and
face the world the best
that you think you can
unaided by the world
as you’ve now come to see
the time you tell your woes
to others to get friends to set odds
right for you, the same very moment
your own already gathered strength
shall leave you and to the depths of
same debilitating fear and weakness
you’ll find yourself being hurled into with
the listeners around you merrily cutting
jokes that you thought they in your need
would help you unknowing of their nature.
I don’t say you withdraw
I only say you fight
keeping the fighter’s spirit on
knowing your own battle you
have all alone to fight
no matter if people around
are to your worst discomfort
sucking out from you your
splendid zeal to settle your eyes
on the goal ahead
and waver not till you’ve achieved
the goal in an endless winning game.
In Dark | Cattail Jester
Stumble & stammer
I’ll find my way
there is a stone
inside me
that will not grind
itself away easily
some things in life
are worth the fight
a flush of anger
a core
to support worlds
building a structure
so the crawl may
be on knees,
shaken,
the path goes on
to the lighted mouth
of the yawning cave.