Abdul Malik Mandani Poet Free verse

The Enemy Within

My favorite emotion:
To hold a grudge close to my heart,
I fuel it, keep it alive;
It paces my mind back and forth like a caged tiger,
Like the restless sea I never let it be
Lashing and roaring like crashing waves.

I carry the grudge like a cross 
and wear it like a crown of thorns.
Each slight, each insult
is driven into my body like a nail.

Like a devout believer I keep my wounds alive
by constant chanting and the ritual of remembrance…
knowing full well there’d be hell to pay if I fulfilled it.

Something is beginning to corrode inside me,
Skeptical about good deeds, suspicious of generosity 
I feel the years wearing on me nursing a grudge.


~07/31/21
~Contest: Anything you want
~Sponsor: Chantelle Anne Cooke.

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Ann Peck July 31, 2021 at 8:46 AM Your poem hits the nail on the head for our current life. "Skeptical about good deeds, suspicious of generosity" a great line. Abdul Malik Mandani July 31, 2021 at 5:13 PM I wasn't sure anybody would like it -- holding a grudge is supposed to be bad. Forgiveness is politically and ethically right thing to do. I had second thoughts about it. But well... appreciate your comment very much. Thanks