Popular Change Poems – 67 Best Poems About Personal Growth

Change is life, life is change! Change is inevitable in life. It is a part of our life. Changes may either be positive or negative. When we are tired of doing something we welcome a new change. When we are upset we wait for a change of phase, we await happiness. But sometimes, when we are happy we fear the change which may cause disappointments. Its the way of life: whether we like it or not a change is bound to happen.

The only thing that is constant in this world is the change, and we have to adopt it otherwise we can’t survive here. Changes keep away boredom from life. It makes this journey interesting and adventurous. Change can come in many forms in our lives. It might come forcefully like a tidal wave, or creep along incrementally like a glacier. It might come in the form of devastating tragedy, difficult choices, broken relationships, or even new opportunities.

There goes a saying: “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change…” — The more opportunities we create to change our lives the more fulfilled and happier our lives become. No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to change. You never know what is awaiting, so embrace the changes to become the person you want to be and discover new possibilities. So, love yourself and adopt the change to stay happy in your life.

Here, we have collected 67 change poems – the best poems about personal growth. This is a great inspiration for those who are facing changes in life and those who are not brave enough to make good changes for their lives. Let’s enjoy 67 beautiful poems about change below. Hope you have beautiful moments on OZoFe.Com! All is the best!

1, Before I… © Insiya K. Patanwala

Before I became strong, I knew what it was like
To be weak,
How difficult it is to love yourself,
To find the wholeness that you seek.

Before I knew the light,
I have had my fair share of darkness, too,
Where my world fell into a hopelessness
And I didn’t know how to get through.

For I have known the tears it takes,
The courage to stand up again,
When you are broken down and bruised
And you know nothing but the pain.

You forget to appreciate love,
If you haven’t seen the hate,
Till you forget the meaning of smile and laughter,
And your heart is left abate.

I have known the strength and courage
It requires to get it right,
To face the things that hold you down
And hold your head up and fight.

Before I was who I am now,
I was someone I didn’t want to be.
I was lost, battered, and defeated,
Before I knew how to be me!

2, Change © Richard Macwilliam

I would tear apart this constricting veil
That chokes my mind and cleats me to this soil:
I would try, and try again, and gladly fail,
And consider it worthy of my toil

If only I could see in me some change,
If only I could find that other ‘Me’,
If only I could venture past the strange
That is my normal, and set Me free.

There, if I could but find it is my Self,
There, in that deep darkness who I want to be:
There, silent, secret, is the hidden wealth
That is my spirit and my destiny.

Don’t be surprised if one day I break this shell –
I wish to see the heaven in my hell.

3, Destined To Fly © Ashley Hyder

I remember the day we met.
Too young to see the danger.
I didn’t know the devil you were,
That you’d fill me with so much anger.

At first you gave me comfort,
Numbed me from the pain,
But the light you gave me faded,
Brought blackness to my veins.

Your trap worked as always.
I am not the only one to fall.
So many friends forever gone now;
No one’s left to call.

Dragged me to rock bottom,
Each day a life in hell anew,
Felt there was no possibility
Of breaking this dependence on you.

Every day I woke
With only you on my mind,
Desperate for your love,
More desperate for you to die.

Through time I saw you were evil.
I watched you steal my soul.
Each time I tried to get away,
You would not let me go.

Tried to scream and cry,
Eventually accepted my fate.
Everyone had tried to warn me,
And now it was too late.

Family and friends could never understand,
Couldn’t hear my silent plea.
They did not want to see
The sick effect you had on me.

You locked me in a cell.
You made me freeze at night,
Made me deceive those I loved,
Made me live in constant fright.

Left broken, battered, and bruised,
My number of scars grew.
Both physical and mental,
While the number of wasted years flew.

Went through the motions like a zombie.
No longer did I see
Any type of future
In this world for me.

You erased any shred of hope
When everyone turned their backs.
Difficult to escape this dark hole and cope,
Impossible to defend against your attacks.

I knew no church, no God.
YOU, my ultimate power.
No way to know real love.
I was now a rotted, dead flower.

Then one day it happened.
Most amazing hope one moment brings,
And I decided then and there
That I would grow my wings.

No longer will you take from me
Like you have stolen all these years.
You will never take my life.
No longer will I cry these tears.

I will deal with the pain.
I will swallow all my pride.
I will deal with my life of rubble.
I’m prepared for this difficult ride.

If it kills me to leave you,
Then I will gladly die,
Because with you I’m only surviving,
And I have been destined to fly.

I will soar, laugh, and smile,
Will breathe my life once more.
I will go back to a time
Before you came knocking at my door.

4, Starting Over © Tatum

I’m trying to find something to base my life upon,
Something in this strange world that goes on and on.
As the years go by and time fades away,
What used to be “good days” are now filled with dismay.
Tomorrow comes, and then again it goes,
And my ambition to become something more grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
The life I want now gets closer each day.
All I’ve ever wanted was something to live for.
I don’t want to be this little person anymore.
I’ve been basing my life upon what others think.
I wish I could go back and redo everything, every time an eye would blink.
I’ve fought to become who I am and what I want to be.
I have to remind myself that one day I will be free,
Free from the rules I followed as a child,
When everything was a game and life was so mild.
Now times have changed and I realize nothing is fair,
And sometimes it seems like nobody even cares.
It’s like no one pays attention to what I feel is best for me
And what I think about the way some things should be.
I understand now that I’m pretty much on my own,
And I know a lot of what I can do will never be known.
All the time I think about everything I can’t say, what I have to keep in,
And by doing this, my thoughts only get more complicated and deepen.
Soon I hope to find out who I am and what I am meant to become.
I want to know where I’m going.
I don’t need to be reminded of where I came from.

5, Winds Of Change © Asma Bahrainwala

A solitary stunted bud
In a barren garden
Of repressed desires
Parched to the core
And in need of love
To rejuvenate its being

Blossomed at the very hint
Of the touch
Of the friendly West Wind
Trumpeting the arrival of Spring
In its seemingly eternal
Autumnal existence.

Imagine this,
If a single hint of breeze
Could bring to life
This long dead bud
What would an Eternal Spring
Do to it?

Caress it out of its
Vegetative existence?
Fill it with fragrance?
Promise that it would never ever
Let autumn set in?
Or is it too early for the hopeful bud
To surmise the intent of Spring?

6, All The World’s A Stage © William Shakespeare

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

7, That’s Life © Danny Joyce

This life is a wonderful gift … accept it, embrace it.
It starts with a new day … wake up and greet it.
Life is a challenge … take it head on and meet it.
Full of opportunity … use it, don’t waste it.

This life is a mystery … unfold it, solve it.
It starts with meaning … wake up and understand it.
Life is a goal … take it head on and achieve it.
Full of promise … fulfill it but keep it.

This life is a tragedy … face it, accept it.
It starts with pain … wake up and help numb it.
Life is a struggle … take it head on and fight it.
Full of sorrow … sorry, just overcome it.

This life is precious … hold it, treasure it,
It starts with hope … wake up and feel it.
Life is a choice … take it head on and make it.
Full of knowledge … use it, don’t abuse it.

This life is adventurous … enjoy it, explore it.
It starts with a duty … wake up and perform it.
Life is love … take it full on and love it.
Full of beauty … praise it and behold it.

That life is life … live it, learn and grow
Life is good … be good with all that you know.

8, New Year © Sandra Hearth

Another year is coming to a close.
We can forget our troubles and woes.

For me, this year was tough.
It brought many emotions, was tearful and rough.

Now another year is approaching fast.
Let’s hope it’s a New Year with love and health; let’s hope it’s a blast.

May all of your dreams come true
And you find peace and love in all that you do.

May this world know the gentle sound of a hush.
May it calm all its anger and slow its pace from the rush.

May we all hear the sound of joy
And push away all that hurts that destroy.

The New Year I hope will be good to us all.
Care and calm, a helping hand when we fall.

Listen more, slow down, and say I love you.
Stop for a moment; take a breath, take in the view.

Appreciate your family; tell them you care.
Do something exciting, a thrill or a dare.

Enjoy all that the New Year may give.
We have but one life, so let’s learn to live.

It’s a New Year, a brand new start.
Always remember, live and love from your heart.

Wishing each and every one a year to behold,
And may it be full of wonders for you to unfold.

Love, hugs, and kisses too…
A very happy New Year from me to you.

9, Change You Can But… © Celestine R. Manohar

Change you can your hair color, not your skin;
Change you can your smile and grin: not your eyes;
Change you can your sex partners, not your kin;
Change you can your sinful life: Be soul-wise!

Change you can your friends and foes, not parents;
Change you can your teacher/guide, not your brain;
Change you can your exam-marks, not talents;
Change you can your habits bad and be sane.

Change you can the environment, not the sun;
Change you can the landscape old, not the soil;
Change you can your temperament and not run;
Change you can your heart and mind: you must toil.

Change you can your ambitions but be brave;
Change you can your life-styles much but behave!

10, Change, The Inevitable © Jake Harris

Change is to one man the death of a friend,
To another the birth of a child.
Change is the shifting of soft winds of spring,
to a hurricane deadly and wild.

Change is the moving of the hourglass sands,
It’s the coming of dawn after dark.
Change is taking one step at a time,
The emotion in each persons heart.

But change in the end, will not change at all
The one constant in everyone’s lives
Change is the light at the end of the tunnel
The healer who opens our eyes.

11, Change Is All © Olivia Libby

No one will ever know how I feel,
For I cannot even explain it all.
Nobody to love,
Nobody to blame,
Everyone always the same.
Nothing to care about,
No reason to lie,
For I am me, myself, and I.
No one sees what I see,
Nobody left to care for me.
It’s kind of sad knowing what’s true,
‘Cause then you know who’s there for you.
Most of them just put on that act.
A lot of them talk bad about me behind my back.
Thanks for making me feel this way,
There’s nothing more I should have to say.
All the times I was alone
Makes me feel weird when someone’s home.
No family for support, no friends to care.
People wonder why I don’t go anywhere.
Every night crying myself to sleep,
Sometimes I wish someone loved me.
No hope, no love, no life, no friends.
The pain never ends.
Sometimes I ask what did I do to deserve this.
But nobody answers.
A voice in my head tells me to forget the bad and remember good.
But then I answer to myself saying there is no good to remember.
I always yell at myself asking why me? Why?
Sitting in a empty spare room.
No one to talk to about how I feel.
No one to ask me what I feel.
Is anyone out there in this harsh world we live in?
Sometimes I begin to wonder.
Sometimes I’m harsh on myself.
Morn comes and I wake up wishing I was never born.
Please help others, because today’s lives
Are being taken out of this world just as easy as they are coming in.
You can change someone’s life.
Make a change.
It’s a tough world.

12, Love Is Better Than Hate © Poppy Cooke

Don’t judge a book by its cover.
Love is better than hate.

Life’s too short to waste opportunities
you have the chance to take.

One day you could be alive and the next you could be dead,
so keep your head held high with a big smile on your face!

13, Hands © Jherine N. Saine

I haven’t forgotten
That I am just one person,
That I am but one voice
Attempting to stand out
From the crowd.

I remember
That I have fallen
Amidst the laughter
That surrounds me, and that sometimes
It gets too loud.

I know
That I can’t sit here
And expect my silence
To evoke change
Without reason.

I can see
That I don’t know everything,
That I can’t expect
My hand to be held
Always.

I can feel
That time is slipping
By me, that it
Will be gone if I just
Stand still.

I have heard
That there are a million
Other voices that sound
Like mine, that want also
To be heard.

I’ve been told
That it’s not enough to
Wish for dreams, that I
Have to work them
Into reality.

I know that I don’t know
All that I think I know.
I know I won’t see all of
The places I wish to go.
I know I’m not ready
For all that the world demands,
You don’t have to always hold me;
Just let me see your hands.

I know
There’s a lot
That I won’t understand,
That you don’t have all
Of the answers.

I haven’t forgotten
That I have to grow up
And someday live without
Your voice, your opinion—
Making my own decisions.

I know that I don’t know
All that I think I know.
I know that I may not see all
Of the places I want to someday go.
I know I’m not ready for everything
That I won’t always understand.
You don’t have to always hold me,
But sometimes. . .
Just let me touch your
Hand.

14, Butterfly © Crystal R. Kordell

I was sitting on the bench in the park one day,
And saw a butterfly coming my way.
I opened my hand, and to my surprise,
the butterfly landed; consumed in cries.
I asked the little one,
“What is wrong?”
and then the little one began to sing me a song,
“The sky is dark and my days are grey, and there’s nobody here to lift the
clouds away.”
I sat there quietly for a moment or two and then I had decided what to do.
I looked at that butterfly that was consumed in cries,
and told her promptly, “I tell no lies.
Your skies are dark and days are grey because you have no love to light your way.”
The butterfly finally stopped her crying,
opened her wings and went off flying,
I sat on that bench until it was dark,
and then I finally left the park.
day after day had long since passed,
I thought I’d seen that butterfly for the last,
and then on a nice and sunny day,
I heard a little voice say to me, “Hey.”
I turned around, and to my surprise, there she was with her 3 little butterflies.
I stared in awe as she spoke to me.
She said to me, “You’ve set me free,
you’ve lifted the dark from the skies, and now I see no grey through my eyes,
I want to thank you for all you’ve done, and to let you know that you’re our number 1.”
And after that she flew away,
and I haven’t seen her since that day,
but now that I know her troubles are done,
I continue walk in the warm summer sun.

15, My Life With Heroin © Erin

Thinking back on my life, when I was a little child,
So outrageous and bubbly doing things that were wild.
Thinking back on my life, all those wonderful years,
Not a care in the world, no worries, no fears.
Thinking back on my life, all the advice I was told:
What a wonderful child my parents hoped they would mold.
But as we all know, it’s not always what we dreamed;
Life gets harder, and to us it’s not always how it seemed.
There are two roads in life: the right one and wrong one;
The wrong one I chose, and it seemed life was done.
But as time went on, I had to agree,
I can do and be anything I want to achieve.
I have tried over and over and failed to succeed;
But I am a SOLDIER, that’s what I believe.
My LIFE is too precious to let it slip away;
I must try harder and harder each coming day.
One day soon I’ll be all that I am;
How do I know, you ask?
BECAUSE I KNOW I CAN!!!!

16, Change © Shikha Singh

Open your life and accept change;
Its like a flower in midst fo a mountain range.
blooming and shining unconditionally;
spreading its fragrance and hue in the valley.

Changes teach us that there is more to life,
It shows us our goals and the way to strive.
Its like a dropp of golden Sun in the darkness
Illuminating the thoughts and directing it to harness.

Accelarating and enlightening as it comes;
Failures and sucess all it sums.
Providing an intermediary betwixt past disappointments and future aspirations;
Welcoming change is the only way to reach the life’s destination.

Life and its ways are truly very strange;
The key is to accept what you cannot change.

17, My World With Love And God © Michelle Strattis

My future is coming alive.
All tomorrows will be mine.
It’s just around the corner,
Just a pause in time.

I see into the days ahead
And what I want for me.
I see smiles and happiness,
All the love I want there to be.

A house is not a home
Unless with love it stands,
And I would not be full
Without the love of man.

A yard is just a yard,
But with pretty flowers to grow,
It makes the sight so colorful.
It makes you proud, you know?

And alone we cannot be,
For two together as one
Is what God wanted, you see.
Hand in hand with love.

So come with me to my world.
It’s a world of goodness and care.
Come with me, I’ll take you.
Never hurt, only love, will be there.

18, The Ghost Of My Past © Lee W. Barker

Fumbling, stumbling,
around in the dark.
Fighting, igniting,
flames from a spark.

Blinded, reminded,
of the fear inside.
Turning, yearning,
for a place to hide.

Soaking, choking,
struggling to breathe.
Hiding, abiding,
my ghost won’t leave.

Chasing, racing,
I stagger away.
Breathless, restless
in the mud I lay.

Dreaming, gleaming,
I escape the past.
Winning, new beginning,
I am free at last.

19, Seasons Yet To Come © Rick W. Cotton

They gave us all a calendar
At work this afternoon.
Suddenly it dawns on me,
The year is ending soon!

Comes January, cold and gray.
The new year’s just beginning.
And February, short and bright
With Valentine hearts winning.

Comes March, the windy roaring one
And warm the sun of spring.
Then April, bright of shining sky
And flowers blossoming.

Comes May, and school comes to a close
With children’s happy laughter.
Then June, with open city pools
And picnics soon thereafter.

July comes booming with a bang
Of red-glared rockets blasting.
Then August lingers with its heat
That seems so…everlasting.

September, gold September comes.
The year is growing older.
October with sweet Halloween.
The nights grow dark and colder.

November smells of harvest,
Of turkey and Thanksgiving.
December comes with joy and light
To fill hearts of the living.

Each page I flip and see these things
Of days yet to come.
My calendar is a door to me,
An adventure just begun!

20, All Because Of You © Dana

My life is changing.
The life that I’ve had,
It’s changing forever,
But no need to be sad.

It’s time to move on,
Time to start anew.
I jumped from the nest.
With some trouble, I flew.

I might hit a few bumps,
Maybe make a wrong turn,
But all of those troubles
Are lessons I’ll learn.

So as my life changes,
I hope that you’ll see
It’s you who I’ll credit
For the life that I lead.

21, Addiction Is Deceiving © Harold

You,
You are so deceiving.
When you come into my life,
You make me feel the best I can,
Yet you stab me with your knife.
You take away my money,
My friends and family too.
You take away my dignity.
My life revolves around you.
You give me the pain,
Then you take it away.
You are playing a game
That I don’t want to play.
I’m aware of you now
And all that you do.
Listen: I want “Me” back.
I don’t want you.

22, Winter Stars © Sara Teasdale

I went out at night alone;
The young blood flowing beyond the sea
Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings—
I bore my sorrow heavily.

But when I lifted up my head
From shadows shaken on the snow,
I saw Orion in the east
Burn steadily as long ago.

From windows in my father’s house,
Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,
I watched Orion as a girl
Above another city’s lights.

Years go, dreams go, and youth goes too,
The world’s heart breaks beneath its wars,
All things are changed, save in the east
The faithful beauty of the stars.

23, We’re Better Than Yesterday © Mg.Ra

Don’t be worried about the past.
Things like that never last.
We’re better than yesterday.
We never run out of things to say.

If you’re strong yesterday,
You’re strong every day.
The past makes us stronger.
It does not make us weaker.

The past make us realize
That we’re better than this.
Past is just a time,
But it will never be missed.

24, Who Am I? © Miranda S

Who am I?
What is the real reason to why I cry?
I’m having trouble opening up

My mind is at a loss
I don’t move so I’m getting covered in moss
But it doesn’t grow the right way
I thought it was supposed to show you the way

I just want to get home
Where I can be alone
I’m sick of feeling closed in
I’m not an animal you can put in a pin

I need to be free
So I can see all I can see
I don’t want to be locked up

I want to come to my senses
I remember everything he mentions
Yet I don’t know me
That’s who I can’t see

It seems so simple
But that can’t be
‘Cause if is was so
I’d know where to go

I don’t know who to go to
I need to talk it through
But they can’t know me
And they can’t see

I can’t find them
How can this be

25, I Want To Change The World © Allyson Bogan

I want to change the world
I want to impact it so deep
That I reach the core
I want to change the meaning of peace
To something permanent
I want to open doors
And shut out doubt
I want the past to dissolve
It makes my ears bleed
Mistakes linked in memory
Times so hard the world shakes in its boots

I want to change the world
The sun rises and then sets
But leaves its mark before it goes
It creates life and growth
The moon brings serenity and mystery
Both bring death too
I want the growth to shine through
But erase the death
I want to change the world
But I would not dare change the past

26, Time For A Change © Linda Ori

So life has handed you sour grapes,
They’re bitter and hard to swallow—
But you’ll be just fine
Sour grapes make good wine
If you throw in enough sweet sugar;

So lemons are the fruit of the day,
So sour your lips start to pucker—
Just make lemonade
A tall glass in the shade
Will refresh on a hot summer day;

So your garden has grown green tomatoes,
That just won’t turn red in the sun—
Fry them up in a pan
Make some relish to can
What a wonderful change of taste!

Whenever life throws you a curve ball
When you were expecting a hit—
Then you should be guessin’
You’re learning a lesson…
It’s time for a change of scenery.

27, Do You Ever Stop And Think? © Jordan Brown

Do you ever stop and think?
Just reflect on everything that’s happened to you
in the last few days.
Months.
Years.

Do you wonder where all that time went?
All those special moments
or just the ordinary daily activities that are now only memories.
Memories that are unique,
and the only way you can hold onto them
is by replaying them in your mind over and over again,
until the details all merge together and you’re left with a fuzzy recollection
that doesn’t seem to fit anymore.

Do you remember the exact time when you started to grow up?
When the conversations you had
were not about dolls or imaginary friends
but about sex, boys and ‘How far have you gone’?
When you started giggling not because you’re covered in mud,
but because you remembered the time that a boy kissed you?

Have you ever turned around and suddenly everyone was 3 feet taller,
with bigger parts and more curves
and you had no idea where it all came from?

Have you ever felt that the closest people to you are also the furthest away?
Felt that everything was happening too fast?
And even though you didn’t want to grow up,
you didn’t want to be left behind either?

And when his hand is no longer a boy’s but a man’s,
when his touch does not convey safety but lust
and when your body betrays you and wants it too, is this when we have grown up?
Or is it when we are forced to grow up?

And who tells us when we have grown up?
How do we know when we have reached our destination?
Do we ever stop growing up or do we continue to just grow in spirit?

And if I can see everyone else making choices,
trying new things, growing up,
is it selfish for me to want it to stay the same forever?

And if I make my own choices, try different things, slowly growing up,
will others notice that I’m changing too?
Do they wish that nothing would change just like I do?

And if I’m just scared of losing the people that are close to me,
scared of being left behind or leaving others behind,
is it okay for me to stand off in the distance
just watching these people live their lives,
remembering how they are and how they make me feel?

But if I hold onto them too tightly how am I to move on?
How am I to grow up and LIVE MY LIFE?
How am I to make decisions and take on responsibility if I’m living in the past?

I guess time continues
whether you want it to or not,
leaving you behind or taking you for the journey of your life.

28, Seeds Of Growth © David Rivera

Water the seed, and a plant will grow.
Feed the plant, and a tree will grow.
Give a tree room, and it will bloom.
A seed to a plant,
A plant to a tree,
A boy to a man,
A man to a father.
Care for the boy, and the man will grow.
Teach the man, and a father will grow.
I see my boys.
I see my joy.
Care for my boys, and I, the man, will grow.
Teach me, my boys, and your father will grow.
You can’t have the tree without the plant.
You can’t have the plant without the seed.
I can’t be a father without being a man.
I, the man, can’t be a father without my boys.
The cycle of life.
The man, the boys, the father.
The seed, the plant, the tree.

29, Equality © Maya Angelou

You declare you see me dimly
through a glass which will not shine,
though I stand before you boldly,
trim in rank and marking time.
You do own to hear me faintly
as a whisper out of range,
while my drums beat out the message
and the rhythms never change.

Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.

You announce my ways are wanton,
that I fly from man to man,
but if I’m just a shadow to you,
could you ever understand?

We have lived a painful history,
we know the shameful past,
but I keep on marching forward,
and you keep on coming last.

Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.

Take the blinders from your vision,
take the padding from your ears,
and confess you’ve heard me crying,
and admit you’ve seen my tears.

Hear the tempo so compelling,
hear the blood throb in my veins.
Yes, my drums are beating nightly,
and the rhythms never change.

Equality, and I will be free.
Equality, and I will be free.

30, Rainy Days When I Was Young © Pat A. Fleming

When I was young on rainy days,
Alone on my front porch I’d play.
I’d lose myself in another time
That I could create with my toys and my mind.

Tomorrow never mattered to me,
For that was where I would always be.
There would be no hurt, no pain, no tears,
There were no worries; there was nothing to fear.

But as I grew up and everything changed,
I realized that life was no easy game.
You lived by the rules that the outside world made,
And that feeling of safety would ultimately fade.

You walked a fine line as you faced every day,
Filled with constant surprises as you went on your way.
And your life could change in the blink of an eye,
And failure could come no matter how hard you tried.

You would fight many battles, as you tarried along.
Sometimes you’d be right, but more times you’d be wrong.
So many people you’d love and you’d hate,
But you had to keep going because life wouldn’t wait.

And lost in that mess that you’d make every day
And behind all those senseless and stupid mistakes
Would be moments so splendid, so perfect and fine,
You would wish that they all could be frozen in time.

Cherished moments with family, the fulfillment of dreams,
Those brief special moments, and the boring routines.
The excitement of learning just who you could be,
And finding that happiness was not guaranteed.

Discovering, with relief, your niche in this world,
Achieving so much but still wanting more.
Through births and some losses, you’d survive on just hope,
Always searching for ways to escape and to cope.

And then there’d be love to nourish your heart,
And sadness and tears when that love fell apart.
You would go through the stages of life as they came.
You would grow up and grow old and constantly change.

You’d see beautiful things in this exceptional world,
The wonder and power of nature unfurled.
You would witness the kindness of our own human race.
But also the destruction and chaos we make.

Indeed as a child I had no real clue
About what was coming and what I’d go through.
And although I do miss that innocent peace,
I treasure each moment that brought me to me.

But still when it’s dark and rainy sometimes,
My cozy front porch will come gently to mind.
And I’ll long for a chance to just steal away
And curl up on that porch with my toys and just play.

31, Life Happens © Jim Ellis

Life is what we make it.
It cares not what we do.

No matter how we fake it,
It always sees right through.

If you try and lead it,
It pushes from behind.

If you try and read it,
It soon will make you blind.

Just let it freely take you.
Enjoy life’s carefree ride.

And know it won’t forsake you
If you walk right by its side.

32, Let America Be America Again © Langston Hughes

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!

33, The Way It Is © Jocelyn

I can feel my heart beating beneath my chest.
Why do you scream at me? All I do is my best.
My life is a nightmare, only I am awake.
Why was it my fault? Where was my mistake?

Sometimes it’s OK, sometimes you’re all right.
Sometimes you don’t get angry and we won’t fight.
But when something goes wrong, you never can help.
You’ll always hurt me again, and you will make me yelp.

I give you love, but you don’t care.
Why do I have to live like this? It just isn’t fair.
Why is it you bring these tears?
Why is it I have to live in fear?

I just don’t know how to heal these scars.
It’s like I’m a prisoner and can’t break through your bars.
Why do you have a hold over me? I feel like I can’t leave.
One day I will grow strong; one day I will believe.

Then you just wait,
I will be the one to send all the hate.
I will be the one to yell,
Then I will tell you to go to hell.

I wish I could do this.
My life could have such bliss.
Right now I have to stay here, the tears I will hide.
I feel like I’m slowly starting to die inside.

34, Letting Go And Holding On © Martha Turner

Oh, how I love life,
walking outside in spring and summer
and smelling the honeysuckle floating on the warm breeze.
Couples walking hand in hand,
smiles of happiness from being in love.
Owners walking their dogs,
kids laughing and playing,
birds chirping and singing all day long.
Each and every day the world continues on.

I get tired of its confusion,
tired of the pain.
I’m tired of the emptiness from hearts I’ve parted from.
Tired of wishing for more but not knowing which way to turn
and sometimes too scared to look back.
To let go completely of yesterday,
and grasp a hold of the hope of tomorrow,
a hope that if tomorrow gets here, it won’t be like yesterday.

Yesterday’s holding on to the hope of a lost love,
yesterday’s disappointments of the same ol’ routine
yesterday’s wishing bills didn’t exist
so there wouldn’t be any living from check to check.
Yesterday’s empty dreams of a fairy tale ending,
wanting an end to all my struggling.
OH… holding onto the hope of tomorrow…

A tomorrow filled with pure happiness
knowing that this direction on the path is the one and only way…
Success.
A tomorrow filled with the reassurance that you’re headed for better days.
A tomorrow with a love that was sent to you from the heaven above
that will only grow deeper and deeper as time goes by to last forever.
A tomorrow that will complete and fulfill yesterday’s wants and dreams.
A tomorrow that will conquer all my hardships and troubles.

I grasp the thought of what wonderfulness tomorrow could bring.

35, Yes, I’ll Go On Laughing © Jac Judy A. Campbell

When worries and fears I claim for my own,
When I feel helpless and all alone,
When my deepest memories come to mind
And all my sadness I leave behind,
Then yes, I’ll go on laughing.
When I feel I’m going under with nothing
To hold onto,
When dark shadows cloud my senses,
My sadness and fears I’ll be through.
When sweet, gentle ways have come to pass
And I get my fill of sadness at last,
Then yes, I’ll go on laughing.
When I give up and go on living
And become wiser than I am,
I’ll try not to cry tomorrow
So this heart and soul shall mend.
Then yes, I’ll go on laughing.

36, A Positive Change © Seema Chowdhury

Changes that occur in the period of gloom
Flowers that all of a sudden doom
Period of joy that seems so lost
In this frenzy world that doesn’t pay any cost

For the tears that dropp from your eyes
For what you’ve felt from pain and sigh
And haven’t seen anything that can trade
The burning sun from care’s cool shade

In such a time, what you must do
Is to think of positive changes and view
And know that soon all your trials
Will be swapped with the joyful smile

And this you can only achieve
If you know how you can trust and believe
And keep a positive thinking in gloom
Then flower of joy will surely bloom.

37, The Mentor © Jeff Bresee

I paused to stand and watch a man who had come to the road’s divide.
My wonder soared as I watched his stare slowly shift from side to side.
He stood as if not noticing that many passed him by.
They moved without a second glance down the road most traveled by.

Then as I watched, he stepped full stride toward the path of lesser wear,
And soon he vanished from my view round a bend into the snare.
I soon, like him, stood center road, faced with that daunting choice.
My gaze down his road, causing fear, I quenched my inner voice.

For miles I walked the crowded road breathing dust from others’ feet,
Until in despair I stopped and stood, my heart and soul deplete.
I gazed about, still holding hope, the other path I’d see.
On yonder hill I saw him there, the man who mentored me.

The path between us steep and rough, unforged with dangers there,
Yet still I left my path of friends, ignoring their bewares.
I pressed through hardship, pain and fear o’er rocks jagged and bent.
In time I crashed limp on that path, my every resource spent.

But then a warming touch I felt, a friendly voice I heard.
It said, get up and tread this path. I rose without a word.
And as I looked, I saw him there, he continued on his way.
His only words as he walked on…”You’re on the path, now stay.”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I chose in err.
But looking back, perhaps as well…all memories now seem fair.
Much time I spent on the beaten path, and what I learned, immense.
But I reached, at last, the other path, and it has still made all of the difference.

Inspired by Robert Frost

38, Changing Regrets © Brittany

Is life a reality or just a dream?
It all seems like there is nothing we can’t see.
Blinded by a dark spot full of regrets,
But all is in the future that we can’t see yet.
We all have a bond to hold together and each other.
If not, the people who hold on will fall down.
Smile, don’t frown; there will be more happy times,
You’ll shine; grab my hand and stand.
Take a chance, enhance.
Embrace the gift of life, hold it tight and never let go.
You do have something to show.

39, What A Wish © Maria

What to wish
What a wish
A wish is a wish you can wish
For
A wish is where anything can come true
A wish is where anything can happen
What would you wish for
If you had a wish
Would you wish for money
Or for world peace
Would you wish for all your dreams to come true
Or for a good life
Would you wish to die of old age
Or to have a great life
Me, I would wish for nothing
‘Cause to me a wish is a wish
My life is okay
Sure, there would be some things I would love to change
But to change something so small
That you can’t even see
Is one precise moment you would lose
Just by that wish you could lose something so great
Even if it was good or bad
Only you would know if you lost what was truly yours
That one moment could change your whole life if you lost what was most special to you
So to me, a wish is a bad thing to wish for
A wish is something that could mess up your whole
Life!

40, Going Forth © Alora M. Knight

What will it take to free this mind,
Imprisoned long in apathy,
Now reduced to mundane thoughts
That stultify activity?

What words might somehow trickle up
Through dormant webs of talent,
Releasing from the tangled depths,
A joy once prevalent?

I stand and peer outside my cave,
Security behind me.
Am I afraid to take the chance
Success might someday find me?

Can I withstand the pounding waves
That new ideas foment?
Or shall I once again retreat,
In dullness be content?

Time laughs as I now hesitate.
It says, “Can I keep waiting?
Afraid to leave my placid nest,
Just stay there still debating?”

No! Not when new horizons
Are reaching out to find me.
The glove is thrown, the die is cast.
I close the door behind me.

41, As You Grow © Tasha R. Dragoo

As you grow up, the view will start to change.
The embrace of the first morning’s light,
Running for hours beneath the blue.
All of it seems to be there just for you.
The days were long and hushed.
When did it all become such a rush?

As you grow, the view starts to change.
Your hours are no longer free.
It is just the way it has to be.
The price to pay for growing up
Will be the bill you fear the most.
Age may be just a number,
But no one talks about the word that tags along:
Responsibility!

As you grow, the view will start to change.
It may be odd to say,
But it will be okay.
The road is long.
The price is steep,
But dare I say…
It is worth the leap.
For one simple reason.

As you grew, the view changed.
Long gone are the hours of endless blue.
The hours have passed.
Your time is up.
Was it all well spent?

Your view has changed.
But another’s eyes have just opened up
To the morning’s first light,
The endless hours of blue.
The price has been met,
All just for one reason,
To give this gift to you…
Of nothing else but
Simpler times.

42, Little Boy © Skylar

Never lose who you are
’cause who you are is gold.
Never change your smile
as you grow old.
Never turn bitter,
over small things.
Never lose that spirit
’cause I love how it sings.
Never let anyone bring you down,
Because you’re the best a person can be.

43, Men At Forty © Donald Justice

Men at forty
Learn to close softly
The doors to rooms they will not be
Coming back to.

At rest on a stair landing,
They feel it
Moving beneath them now like the deck of a ship,
Though the swell is gentle.

And deep in mirrors
They rediscover
The face of the boy as he practices trying
His father’s tie there in secret

And the face of that father,
Still warm with the mystery of lather.
They are more fathers than sons themselves now.
Something is filling them, something

That is like the twilight sound
Of the crickets, immense,
Filling the woods at the foot of the slope
Behind their mortgaged houses.

44, No One © Eskedar G.

She watched as they passed,
Old,
Young,
Busy,
Strolling,
Humming,
Talking,
Eating,
Laughing.
No one so much as acknowledged her.
She studied them,
Mice in a box.
No one so much as to stop and think.

She waited for them,
Years passed.
No one so much as thought to question.
Then one day she stood,
She chose one at random,
A “model citizen” they would call him.
She took a deep breath,
And,
With a powerful, seemingly new and unused voice spoke,
“Why do you walk on pavements when the grass is a luscious green?
Why do you choose to dress alike when there are options galore?
Why is it you talk and walk the same when you can dance and skip and hop?
Why does it not bother you,
These rules you compulsorily abide by?
Years I have waited
To hear that single battle cry.
Not once have you people stopped and questioned your precious ‘freedom’ lie.
Free to follow status quo,
The normal,
The superior,
Free to follow rules you exist by!
And so,
I must ask,
Why?
Why? Why? Why?
And with that, the world froze,
Time stopped,
The system had broken.
With a swift wind she was taken away,
Her smile and all,
Proud to join the few others.

Machines were appointed to fix the system,
Robotic and human,
Then, the world continued.
The man scratched his head,
Fixed his suite and tie,
And continued on,
Mug in one hand,
Suitcase in the other.
It was as if it had never happened, and
No one so much as remembered.

45, Forget © Alexandra

Every time the wind blows
Every time the sky cries
It reminds me of you
So you know what I did last night
I went outside and looked up
I made sure the wind was touching my face
And I screamed and yelled at the top of my lungs
Screw you!
Then I laughed in the rain
I danced and I splashed and I finally realized
I’m over you…the thought gave me release
I was finally happy
Finally okay inside
I was absolutely free from the curse of you

46, I Have A Dream, Too © Cody Duggins

I have a dream, too
But must walk across the stage,
But in order to do that,
I must leave this day and age.

I’ll leave friendships and bonds
With friends old and new.
It’s gone by so fast,
It doesn’t seem true.

I’ve become a better person
It’s been so much fun,
And it seems like I’ve gone from a walk to a run.

I have a dream for the future
But I fear too much change.
I fear once I move on
It won’t be the same.

A family, new friends, a house, and a car,
To go to that from this,
It just seems so far.

I wish it would stop
But it goes faster and faster.
The more I struggle
The less I seem to last here.

47, A Prayer For Change © Linda Ori

As children of the universe
Our destination earth,
We ride upon the solar winds
Until the hour of birth
When scattered, weary travlers
Who’ve journeyed from afar
Begin their incarnation
On this cold and dying star;

What used to be so beautiful,
So vibrant green and blue
An oasis for the many
Has been wasted by the few,
What purpose in this torture
Of the motherhood of man?
What evil child will desecrate
His home because he can?

We’ve overstayed our welcome
It’s time for us to leave
And after our destruction
Will no man be left to grieve?
Sweet children of the universe
With hearts so pure and free
Release this star from bondage
With love’s celestial key!

Return these souls to heaven
Wrap this earth in slumber deep,
Awaken us with dreaming,
Let your love inside us creep
Then as buds upon the branches
Of Life’s tree on some spring morn’
We shall blossom into beauty
And this earth shall be reborn.

48, I Am The Sky © Lizzie

Like the sky,
I will continue to change.
Day to night,
Gloomy to bright,
Colorful to dark.
Just as the sky changes,
So do I.
My sky may be cloudy,
But there will always be sun again.
My sky may be clear,
But soon there will be clouds.

49, Poetic Portraits © Alora M. Knight

I had decided that it would awaken my muse
If I read the poems current publishers use.
When I looked at what is marketed now,
I couldn’t help being puzzled, somehow.
The words do not rhyme, no story is told.
I simply felt I was left out in the cold.
I really can’t say how many hours I spent,
But it all added up to complete discontent.
Somewhere, it seems, in the passing of years
There have been many changes. It brings me to tears
For words always have been such a joy to me
When they have been written in pure harmony.
So I went to the dictionary, and lo and behold,
This is the gist of what I was told.
“It’s imaginative language, rhythmically expressed.
An art in which the beauty of emotions is stressed.”
There are so many poets in my books on the shelf,
Including Will Shakespeare, the old bard himself.
If he, and the others, catered to rhyme,
It surely shouldn’t be destroyed by time.
Would Thoreau now rest by his quiet pond,
Contemplating the heavens beyond,
Grasp what today’s poets seem to be saying,
Or would he liken it to a donkey braying?
Would Whitman, if he lived in these present days,
Think “Leaves of Grass” just a passe’ phrase,
Or would he give in to the poet’s curse
If he’d accidentally start rhyming a verse?
I’m wondering just what Thomas Moore would say
If he could read the poetry today.
With nary a word using rhythm or rhyme,
Would he back in his coffin gratefully climb?
When Edgar A. Poe wandered weak and weary,
Thinking about the midnight dreary,
And he heard the raven quote “never more,”
Did he think it was just a metaphor?
If Emily Dickinson came back to earth
Do you think it possible she could give birth
To words that have no connecting thought?
I doubt if that was the way she was taught.
Do you think that Longfellow could really survive
Reciting “The Children’s Hour” on TV live,
Or would they boo him down from the stand
Before his rhyming got out of hand.
Today the Brownings would surely recoil
To think they had spent all their earthly toil
Perpetuating words of enduring love.
What could they have been thinking of?
Dear Robert Frost can peacefully lie,
Knowing that his poetry will never die,
But some poets today, though many are read,
Who will remember them, after they’re dead?
I shouldn’t include everyone in this verse.
Good poets are still writing, for better or worse.
The fact that I love both rhythm and rhymes
May only show that I’m way behind in the times.
The need to express comes straight from the heart.
At least, it would seem that’s the best place to start.
So I’ll try to respect all poets today,
But for me to be happy, I’ll do it my way.

50, A Little Bird Am I © Hanna Heath

I ask but this one small thing.
Give me the worldly skies
For I cannot stay trapped here
A little bird am I….

Let me leave this here land.
Don’t keep me in a cage.
Let me fly to the highest heights.
Let me come of age.
Let me soar among the clouds.
Let my wings spread into flight.
I need to be free; I need to see
The world without a fright.

I have spent my life so grounded,
But my instincts pull me up.
They tell me to go, to see the new,
To finger each buttercup.
I need to witness greatness,
need the sorrow of poverty.
I need to show the world my wings
And shed this gravity.

I want a life of freedom,
And I want to know what’s real.
I want to step to the edge of earth
And watch the sea reveal.
I want to take the longest ride,
And I want to feel the wind
I want to share this life with you,
So, forgive me, for I have sinned.

For I know I’m leaving you behind
To shadow in my wake,
But I cannot stay in these four walls
Simply for your sake.
I will keep you in my mirror.
With me you’ll always be.
I will share with you my tales,
And I will return to thee.

So I ask but this one small thing
Give me the worldly skies
For I cannot stay trapped here
A little bird am I…

51, Why So Much Suffering? © Krysti Farrell

Why must children suffer for the wrong we do?
Why must children pay the price for the ugly hate we spew?
Why must children have to cope with hunger and with war?
Why must children feel the wrath at Mother Nature’s core?
Why can’t children just be free and learn the way of love?
Why can’t children have no cares and love their God above?
Why should children have to worry about their future’s air?
Why must they endure these things because we were aware?!
Why is the question we must ask to truly make things right.
Why is the question we must answer so we can sleep at night.
Why can’t we now take the stand and help our children win?
THIS is why I take this stand and hope you all join in!

52, Brotherhood Among Us © Milton Louw

Can’t we all come and meet each other
And no matter what colour we may be
Be able to show we love one another
And then together we’ll stand, you and me
The leaders of Tomorrow,
Planning for what is to come
Otherwise there will be lots of needless sorrow
Over killing which is quite dumb.

So come closer now and grab my hand
And we’ll accept each other as brothers
And then together we’ll be able to stand
To show our Father and Mothers
We want to plan for a common future
No matter what our race, colour or culture.

53, My Inner Child © Bryan P. Mix

Looking through the window
There is a small child
Sitting with his pillow
He has been there for a while

He is nervous about the room
And the place where he stands
His smile turns to gloom
When he sees my large hands

Looking deeper through the pane
To see what is wrong
He’s not sure he is sane
He has been there way too long

As I peer into the glass
This child starts to fade
Leaving no mass
And me standing in the shade

54, The Need Of Women © Rayan Al Sheikh

I just know there’s more
In the sea of skies above,
Holding in those many things of her
Thoughts that come to mind,
Remembering her moments and mine.
There’s a cloud that rains and nothing but blame falls
I’m becoming a man ,
Every day I learn how to depend on myself
Instead of falling back into her lap and cry.
I resist and shout
And roar, I’m proud to say…this fight of life
Stalking you behind your back,
It seems all the girls walk in stacks
Wondering if fate plays a role.
The pain of mine can’t simply fade away.
Nothing worth what I had with you even if it changed a lot.
So much to do to make a life fit for again
Searching for the perfect soulmate
Taste of Change…

55, Change Of Strife © Edward Iacona

She said that she’d changed
On a journey for her gnosis.
Was this a real spiritual walk?
Or some form of psychoneurosis?

She was gentle and kind,
A modern version of Isis.
Then she up turned our world,
Could it be; Mid Life Crisis?

As many get older some folks will insist,
That there’s more to their life, something they missed.
For time slipped away and they now must resist,
Simply put, they are frightened or mentally pissed.

I know well the feeling, so I can’t disagree,
There are dreams, there are goals and there’s no guarantee.
Time knows not persistence nor hears silent plea.
I know that is true ’cause it happened to me.

Did this happen to her as she rounded the bend?
With no more time to lose she went off the deep end.
Frustration and depression really gives one the blues.
I wish she’d be happy with a car, clothes or shoes.

But, Tarot and Biorhythms entered her New Age view,
Add numerology and auras to this epigram,
Plus crystals and knowledge of Kabala too,
(Not the toy one from Trans-O-Gram.)

Then there were angels, harmless enough,
What followed them was more metaphysical stuff.
She focused on Reiki and healing holistic,
Absorbing herself in modalities mystic.

Did she know that her journey
Also came with a danger?
To her family that loved her (more than she knew)
She has become nearly a stranger.

All the self help books she read
Did not, could not, possibly mention,
She created for family, heartbreak and pain.
Was that the purpose of her cosmic “intention”?

Motivational books come with a high price,
That one pays for reading someone’s advice.
They claim what one finds but give readers no clues.
That from taking their advice, just what they can lose.

No matter the path,
Or what one is akin to,
The problem with change,
Is what one can turn into.

Her marriage was born in the deepest of love,
Of two facing the world hand in hand.
Now her family still wonders just what part of “I do”
She just didn’t quite understand.

Like all she desired a stress-free existence,
Free from rough patches and nary a thicket.
But reality reigns and there are unfortunate events
Unlike those penned by Lemony Snicket.

It’s great to have hobbies, interests and such,
Make them part of your life and never a crutch.
Growth can be part of a marital life,
Not resulting in loss of a soul mate and wife.

If a marriage be comes ill
Then both parties are responsible.
If the past and future mean anything still
Know that “sick” does not always mean terminal.

Gone to follow her vision,
Something should remind her.
That the old saying has wisdom
To not burn her bridges behind her.

The grass on the opposite side as it’s seen,
Looks much greener and most beneficial.
Until she finds out, after vaulting the fence,
Time will tell her it’s all artificial.

56, Life © James Carter

I feel alone
Like there’s no one to talk to
No one to love
Or nothing to go to

Alone I lay here
On this bed
Wishing this pain
Would just go red

For love to fill
This heart with joy
Or fill it with passion
With love deploy

Alone I sit
On this grassy patch
Looking at the stars
I see I catch

The moving of a star
Shines bright at night
Wishing for something
That seems so right

Something we look for
But just can’t find
True love I wished for
For two to bind

I close my eyes
And fall asleep
Knowing my wish
Our God would keep

I open my eyes
And all I see
Is a beautiful sight
Right next to me

Is this the wish
I had dreamed about
Or is it another
Sight of doubt

A beautiful thing
I look then stare
A woman of desire
Who seemed to care

Cared for the pain
I was going through
Cared for something
Like me and you

We walked away
With our hands held tight
Nothing to say
With nothing to bite

I look at her
And all I see
Is my wife running
Right next to me

Jumping along
In our grassy patch
In love with each other
With no one to match

As I open my eyes
I see my son
Holding my hand
With tears that run

With the beat of my heart
Running weak
I hold his hand
With a sudden peak

I see his wife
With a newborn baby
Named after me
As my tears run steady

I hear the beeps
Go on and off
Then all of a sudden
The beeps turn off

As I see the light at the end
Turn on
I know my life was complete
No wrong

I grabbed the rail
That lead to the end
This light flowed
With colors a blend

I follow it
Until all I see
Is my wife and son
In harmony

Life

57, Than The Days Will Ever Know © Steve J. Clymer

Playing on the Grammar School lot,
In a uniform I’d rather not.
One of ‘The Boys in High School’
Yeah, pretty tough and sometimes cruel.

Then one day, love chose me
Through a girl, a last dance;
I knew
My wife she’d be.

We worked, we loved, and grew up together;
Raising three children through all life’s weather.
Traveled the country ’cause of my job,
Left family and home, late at night we’d silently sob.

One child left the nest to wed; now there are two
So many changes, life hurls us through.
With love we rejoice, yet we’re doomed to suffer equal loss,
So enjoy the day and those you love, at any and all costs.

For there’s one thing in life I’m certain,
As sure as the wind’s gonna blow,
Make each and every day count because
The years teach more than the days will ever know.

58, Chance And Change © Esther Leclerc

For one ruined in love, the old status quo
Offers comfort of a kind tho’ cold.
Suffering neglect, your heart is a wreck,
Yet one’s vow demands payment of debt.

Honorbound to see old promises through,
Despite the cost and the loss, you do.
For years it’s been wrong, and forever’s so long,
Wanting to be held, to be known, to belong.

Chances to let go, to be free and to know
How good it feels as love flowers and grows
Have come and gone just as dusk chases dawn,
Like pretty dreams light a world dark and wan.

Change is a Chance taken—not another need
Forsaken to spare one whose tight heart will bleed.
Don’t fear that long leap o’er the abyss of trust,
Just close your eyes… life without love is but dust.

59, Season Of Change © Linda Ori

There is a wistfulness in the breeze
That caresses my hair
And the warmth of the autumn sun
Stirs a longing in my soul –
Where did the time go?

I recall days of endless wonder
Never at a loss for adventure
Experience filled my days
With joy and sorrow –
I never thought it would end;

Now I treasure every moment
Holding them close to my heart
Making deep impressions
To last me through the winter
For spring may never come;

And you will be the one thought
That will carry me through the night
Stay close, my love,
Whisper soft and sweet
The words I’ll always remember.

60, Change © Hinda Schryber

There comes a time when change has to take place.

I don’t know anyone who can carry on doing something, without being valued, or respected, or appreciated in any way. I don’t know anyone who can continually give and never get anything in return.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a soul that has to be nourished or a heart that has to be loved.

I don’t know anyone that can put up with continual bad behavior.

I don’t know anyone that doesn’t make mistakes.

I don’t know anyone who isn’t injured in some way.

I don’t know anyone who can carry hurt or injury around with them for a long time without exploding.

I don’t know anyone who can go without a hug, virtual or visual, when they are hurting.

I don’t know anyone who is angry and doesn’t get ill.

I do know that for the severely emotionally injured the world is just not a safe place. There is always another injury lurking just around the corner.

I do know that a lot of these people go inside of their minds and disassociate from everything and everyone around them. That way the world, for them, becomes a little bit safer.

And we call them insane and mentally ill, and crazy, and unpredictable, and scary.

And we medicate them, and we lock them away so they wont hurt themselves or others.

And they can make sense of this – just another injury.

And I wonder what would happen if we dared to give them what they need.

If we dared to love them in the midst of their hurt.

If we dared to go near their heart and their soul.

If we dared to let them into our souls.

If we accepted them for who and what they are- for the victim of the injury that they did not ask for.

If instead of being afraid of them, we were kind to them.

If instead of punishing them for their defensive acts, we hugged them.

If instead of reminding them of their bad ways and threatening them, we rewarded them for all the good that they do.

Don’t you think then, and only then, they might possibly have a chance to Change?

Then maybe their hurts could heal.

61, New Lifestyle © Michael Parkhurst

Hey yo I’m done with the drugs I ain’t be sellin no mo,
Break it up distribution that was … years ago,
Made paper but was using so I got nothing to show,
Lived in the fast lane but mad dope that’s why I moved slow,
Hypodermic lifestyle yeah I punctured the flow,
New drip fresh kicks bad bitches hello,
Snap back to the front or back brim low,
Got my shades on always matching colors with my clothes,
I got style now I don’t be wilding out,
Personal growth I got a new lifestyle now,
I left the ones who I was around holding me back,
You are who you surround yourself with you do the math,
I don’t want that life no mo I let it go it’s up for grabs,
No scale no product no cutties no bags,
I don’t do dope coke meth than that I’m better I brag,
It beat me down but I got up surrendered I threw the flag

62, I’m the Lone Wind © Steffi Kramer

Walking on my Way
Created my own Way
To make it through the Day
To have enough energy to fight
To make it also through the Night
To spread against the Darkness my Light

I’m walking on my own Way
With my own Feets
Dancing to my own Songs
Singing with my own Voice
Spread my own kind of seeds
Combined with all growing weeds
But at least i know what i will harvest

Walking my own Way
Planting my own Seeds
Watering my own Seeds
Have to life with my own Harvest

Learned to live my own Life
Learned to create may own Future
Learned to take nothing for granted
Learned to find my own inner peace
Learned to stabalize my own inner balance
Learned to use all senses to be a invincible warrior
Learned to handle my words as a double edged sword
Learned to use my calm signals and vibes very selective
Learned to be my own healer with my very own medicine

I walk my own Way
I life in my own World
I got my own color of skin
I know how i can always win
I feel myself again and worthful
I have my own way to walk over the earth
I deal with my own Burdens and my own Vice of life

Although i’m the lone wind
doesn’t gives it me any ego
I’m not self centered
And i only work hard to
Protect my free space
Keep my Life sacred
And one thing i will do
I’ll hold the memories alive
To see them as lessons and something to smile about

I’m a loner
I’m the hawk
I’m the eagle
I’m an old soul
I’m a lone wolf
I’m a polar bear
I’m the lone wind
I’m a warrior woman
I’m an empathical introvert soul
I’m a survivor of cyclons of Life

63, Who Am I © Unknown

Who am I
I often ask
Trying to put me in words
But there is no hope

I am a mortal being
Concerning myself too much about the smallest things
Racing myself closer to a faded being

But there is another part to me
It’s the energy that connects me to the rest of beings
Something that I haven’t explored or foreseen

Which me to choose is my choice
I am a mortal being with a voice
Building a bridge to share this voice

64, Rebirth © Alex Elle

there will be moments when
you will bloom sully and then
will, only lo bloom again.
if we can learn a anything from
flowers it is that resilience is born
even when we feel like we are
clying.

65, From Constant Change Figures © Lyn Hejinian

constant change figures
the time we sense
passing on its effect
surpassing things we’ve known before
since memory
of many things is called
experience
but what of what
we call nature’s picture
surpassing things we call
since memory
we call nature’s picture
surpassing things we’ve known before
constant change figures
experience
passing on its effect
but what of what
constant change figures
since memory
of many things is called
the time we sense
called nature’s picture
but what of what
in the time we sense
surpassing things we’ve known before
passing on its effect
is experience

66, The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls © Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

67, Eleven © Tanya Markul

The pain
that made you
the odd one out
is the story
that connects you
to a healing world

→ Read more: The Best Love Poems Of All Time or The Most Popular Love Poems.