broken souls and broken hearts,
the sleepless ones who look at torn stars,
the twinkling lights that blink afar,
city lights blurred with blinding cars,
are all befriended by the dreamless faces,
that look like lost and stolen art;
estranged glances and estranged words,
the sound of silence they've always heard,
fragrances of the night that are so absurd,
keep alive the sleepless ones who are lured,
by the dark and scary midnight,
when the sky bears no birds;
fluttering curtains and fluttering wind chimes,
the blazing noise that seeps in from the outside,
sleepless ones try their best to hide,
but Oh! It's already twilight,
the sun and moon sit beside,
while sleepless ones look at committed crimes;
a new dawn and a new day,
it has unwillingly arrived,
another night with no dreams,
another dark time where past screams,
when the moon hears no cries,
it means the sleepless ones have died.
She sees in bearded baba
a radiating white light
follows him with trust and peace
alone in the bed meets him
for mantra in the ear
only to discover
a rapist narcissist
reciting his ode to sex
in three-word phrases
all these candles tell me to die,
but one is my wish to live
The strongest rise with
Echoes behind them; no
Legend ever truly won alone.
Every victory carries
Fingerprints of those who
Refused to let them fall; no
Won alone.
When uncertainty tried to rewrite
Their name, someone
Whispered strength back into
Their bones; they never won
Alone.
Even giants leaned on quiet
Warriors, the ones who held
Them steady when storms won
Alone.
Greatness is a rapport, not a
Solo; every step forward was
Carried by hands that won
Alone.
Michaela speaks truth to legacy:
No hero, no survivor, no Legend
Even won Alone.
woke at midnight,
As the clock struck right at two.
I felt the darkness of my room turn crimson red,
As dreadful thoughts grew heavy in my head.
I felt a shiver run down my spine,
And my blood turn cold as ice.
I felt ghosts lingering in the dark,
And my body go limp far too fast.
I felt myself losing control,
Even in my sleep.
I thought it was a dream,
But that eerie sound was far too deep.
And I found myself losing a game
I thought I had never lost.
As a shadow came far too close,
I felt my breath hitch in my throat.
Was all this fate,
Or a mystery begging to be solved?
Then I felt a ghost welcome itself into my room.
I got up, expecting only darkness,
But found...
A lingering mark.
Eye strain and eye reluctance.
I have an envelope of gratitude.
A hazard,
A puddle of soap scum.
Turns out- my brain is simmering.
Like dead tea.
Or mustard blah.
Turns out- my brain has been condemned.
They say your brain has cells.
Catastrophic cells.
This was mine to hold
now it rests within your hands
take it where you choose
I release the reins to you
yet my fingerprints remain.
I leave you the key
hanging from an iron chain
let your will decide
which way and when to turn it
you know which way I would go.
I have said enough
old advice has stained the page
my will has faltered
I can't unring the bronze bell
nor choose which echoes to wake.
The secret has flown
once my tongue unlatched its cage
two shadows now fall
one behind the mouth that spoke
one before the ear that heard.
Freedom bruises hands
when offered in heavy chains
gift-wrapped as free will
demanding they themselves choose
what each cannot bare to lose.
I pass the ember
hand to hand in stark silence
none can keep the flame
alight abandoned in shame
when both wills are disowned.
They say energy never dies
but never said it'd stay for the entire ride
hand in hand, losing their minds
Even in the darkness
there's nowhere to hide
thought that when their worlds decided to collide
the pain would finally subside
Did they ever really try?
or did they just shut down inside?
countless excruciating tears they've cried
yet still numb from losing so many loved ones
that died...
time after time after time
consuming lust filled emotions
had them drowning in eachother's souls
but fears fueled the endless lies
that their bruised egos told
slowly making their hearts turn cold
so unaware of the true dimension they belonged in
a place they created together as their souls continued intertwining & binding
defining forever manifested their own demons
tryna protect themselves
from expected cruel intentions
boy, they were relentless
made nothing but a huge mess of this
love & desire
mixed with fear & anger
created an unextinguishable fire
adding fuel to the flames
whenever he was inside her
one anotherss new drug
they couldn't get any higher
Anxiety l loathe you, yes loathe you l do
Uninvited , you invade my whole being
You serve me no purpose
When you get hold of me….there is no freeing
I never invited you in
I have told you continuously to leave me alone
Yet you do not listen
You still invade my whole being down to the bone
So, l reluctantly live with you
I do my best to keep you and your negativity at bay
I manage you , l cope with you
Though l know…..you are never far away
The more unwanted a desire is the more likely it will come back to you if you try to throw it away....
Some feelings are like a boomerang
You can try to face it head on but it sticks its tounge out at you in the mirror and calls you names
It lurks in your cabinets and takes up space in your refrigerator
It sings to you in the shower and turns your internal radio to a station you'd never voluntarily listen to
Every word you ever said plays on repeat, oh would you like all the things you regret 24/7 commercial free
hurting your own feelings is now included with your paid subscription to abject misery
Sometimes it seems like theres no end in sight and the service charges keep changing
I'd like to cancel my membership please
Does anyone know how to log out of their anxiety?
Breath Without Apology
I stand here,
with a chest full of echoes,
and a tongue heavy with prayers.
I want a life,
not stitched in fear,
but woven in safety,
like a blanket that never tears.
I want a love,
not a riddle,
not a puzzle with missing pieces,
but a flame steady,
burning without question,
a hand that does not tremble
when it reaches for mine.
I want peace,
not the fragile kind,
not the one that vanishes
when silence enters the room,
but peace that lingers,
like incense in the rafters,
like dawn refusing to surrender to night.
I want simplicity,
the kind that feels like home,
like laughter spilling in kitchens,
like children chasing shadows,
like the sound of rain
reminding us we are alive.
And if you ask me again,
what I want,
I will tell you
I want to breathe without apology,
to love without armor,
to rest without ghosts,
to live before dying,
to begin before ending.
© Tr. Elvis Otieno Gikoi
® ArtFromHeart
We speak of women,
yet they are beaten by men.
On the Cape Flats,
some are treated like rats.
Bruises hidden behind closed doors,
daily terror scrubbed from floors.
Some stay silent, pain held in,
others speak—then try to win.
A drunk husband counts her bones,
breaks them as if they were stones.
She loves her children, hates his hands,
waits for freedom, carefully planned.
She waits until the children go,
then leaves the man she’s come to know.
Enough is enough—her day arrives.
She walks away and saves her life.
We warmed the bench with cold stares,
holding onto yesterday’s glass of champagne.
A boy cried somewhere,
loosening his grip on a balloon
that slipped into a sky that never looks back.
Should I pity a crying child,
or an adult swallowing storms in silence?
“I should go,” she said, and
I found my hand reaching for hers,
like a child clinging to his mother
as she nears the grocery counter too soon,
hoping time would stall,
hoping something small could still be saved.
But some things are no-brainers,
inevitable as gravity,
the balloon has flown,
belonging now to no one,
or maybe to everything but us.
The child stopped crying
when his mother placed a bar of chocolate
into his waiting hands.
And I envied him,
because how does a child receive sweetness after sorrow,
while an adult is handed a weapon
and told to be brave instead of held?
No chocolate, no comfort,
just something sharp enough
to silence the trembling.
I guess that’s why
I stand where I stand,
not as someone to be soothed,
but as someone to be used.
I guess
I really am
His favorite soldier.
George Francis Train
Introduced the tram to England
I introduced microwaving the sausage and bun together
To a not-very-impressed-American
We talked and talked into the night
About opera
How Norma's role was designed
For Giuditta Pasta
The weather cooled and necessitated
A dressing gown
He got up and strolled through the room
Pondering whether to purchase four-hundred pound Glastonbury tickets
At dawn, we'd moved onto chess
He advised, 'You gotta ram the pieces down their throat.'
When will I be invited to a Beverly Hills mansion dinner?
we buried witchcraft
but kept old snake oil bottles
lined up on our shelves
hooked up with magic potions
to give hope when logic fails
science displays signs
fate is foretold on the screen
yet we plead for cures
still brewed over smoky fires
hope fixes we can't forgo
hunger stays away
concoctions remove old stains
herbs promise rebirth
purging latter-day poisons
making tomorrow spotless
old curses survive
though no cauldron lights the room
we demand revenge
through hidden spells and curses
that only witchcraft provides
when reason falls short
shadowy figures emerge
in crystal ball veils
to give our nameless fears cause
rather than leave darkness blank
science lights the room
yet something circles in flames
older than knowledge
witchcraft belatedly lives
where reason cannot go
Anxiety Categories
Definition | What is Anxiety in Poetry?
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.
Related Poetry Forms
nervousness, restlessness, apprehension, suffering, uncertainty, disquiet, unease, misgiving, mistrust, angst, jitters, doubt, uneasiness, dread, misery, suspense, trouble, panic, concern, distress, foreboding, heebie jeebies, goose bumps, pins and needles, nail biting,