english poetry for life | 25 Poems About Life And Resilience, When Life Is Just Too Hard

 english poetry for life POEMS FOR WHEN LIFE IS JUST HARD

THE BEST POEMS ABOUT LIFE

1. CINDY WILLIAMS GUTIÉRREZ “THE SMALL CLAIM OF BONES”

what my body knows

is not a lie it’s not

a lie i tell you it is not

it’s nothing short of truth

and nothing larger

my past lodges

in my marrow and if

i wanted a transplant

there’d be no match

others’ sorrows dwarf

my petty traumas still

these bones are mine

when they creak

when they moan

when they whine

there’s only one thing

i can claim these bones

are mine i tell you

they are mine and kind

to abandon no thing

that makes this pulse

no one but me.

2. JANE HIRSHFIELD “MY LIFE WAS THE SIZE OF MY LIFE”

3. KAVEH AKBAR “AGAINST DYING”

4. CAMILLE T. DUNGY “DAISY CUTTER”

5. OCTAVIO PAZ “THE STREET”

It’s a long and silent street.

I walk in the dark and trip and fall

and get up and step blindly

on the mute stones and dry leaves

and someone behind me is also walking:

if I stop, he stops;

if I run, he runs. I turn around: no one.

Everything is black, there is no exit,

and I turn and turn corners

that always lead to the street

where no one waits for me, no one follows,

where I follow a man who trips

and gets up and says when he sees me: no one.

6. WARSAN SHIRE “UGLY”

7. SUJI KWOCK KIM “MONOLOGUE FOR AN ONION”

8. NIKKI GIOVANNI “LEGACIES”

9. W.S. MERWIN “SEPARATION”

Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle.

Everything I do is stitched with its color.

10. EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY “DIRGE WITHOUT MUSIC”

11. PABLO NERUDA “ODE TO BROKEN THINGS”

12. LANGSTON HUGHES “LIFE IS FINE”

I went down to the river,

I set down on the bank.

I tried to think but couldn’t,

So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!

I came up twice and cried!

If that water hadn’t a-been so cold

I might’ve sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator

Sixteen floors above the ground.

I thought about my baby

And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!

I stood there and I cried!

If it hadn’t a-been so high

I might’ve jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I’m still here livin’,

I guess I will live on.

I could’ve died for love—

But for livin’ I was born

Though you may hear me holler,

And you may see me cry—

I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,

If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

13. E.E. CUMMINGS “SUPPOSE”

14. MARY OLIVER “WILD GEESE”

15. ANNE SEXTON “THE ROOM OF MY LIFE”

16. TUPAC SHAKUR “THE ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE”

Did you hear about the rose that grew

from a crack in the concrete?

Proving nature’s law is wrong it

learned to walk with out having feet.

Funny it seems, but by keeping it’s dreams,

it learned to breathe fresh air.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete

when no one else ever cared.

17. JOY HARJO “I GIVE YOU BACK”

18. NAOMI SHIHAB NYE “VALENTINE FOR ERNEST MANN”

19. ALICE WALKER “BE NOBODY’S DARLING”

20. EMILY DICKINSON “I TOOK MY POWER IN MY HAND”

I took my Power in my Hand—

And went against the World—

‘Twas not so much as David—had—

But I—was twice as bold—

I aimed by Pebble—but Myself

Was all the one that fell—

Was it Goliath—was too large—

Or was myself—too small?

21. RUMI “THE GUEST HOUSE”

22. ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING “LOVE”

23. RAYMOND CARVER “LATE FRAGMENT”

And did you get what

you wanted from this life, even so?

I did.

And what did you want?

To call myself beloved, to feel myself

beloved on the earth.

24. RUPI KAUR “UNTITLED”

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Rupi Kaur, on finding home within yourself

194

Jillian

Jillian

Words

25. HANIF ABDURRAQIB “ALL OF THE WAYS I’VE KEPT MYSELF ALIVE”

Want more poems about life? Check out these short poems, some Instagram poets, and make yourself feel better with a little love.