Chronic Poems | Examples

List of Member Poems

Drag Me Down

I was doing so well - thinking I'd made it so far;
But now I feel as if my body is once again stuck behind bars;
Why did this happen - I did everything I was supposed too;
As my health deteriorates so fast - it's left me feeling so blue;
It seems as if my life will forever consist of unbearable pain;
As my once "well managed" life has now been flushed down the drain;
I was just starting to get my life back - it's so completely unfair;
Realizing the medications have stopped working has been hard to bare;
Knowing that I have lost my life again makes me breakdown and cry;
Acknowledging Im back at square one released a beast that tore me up inside;
I had so much to achieve such as college and volunteer work - where'd it all go?;
I've lost everything I worked so hard for - and why I wish I didn't know;
I feel as if my heart is broken - that I'll never function or be well;
As my chronic illnesses grab me by the throat ands drag me straight back to hell

Premium Member chronic pain

at first chronic pain destroys you
you can learn to ignore it after awhile
if it takes weeks, it seems like months
if it lasts for years, you yearn for one painless day
if it lasts five years, you have to imagine being pain=free constantly

Toil

I’m shattered,I won’t lie, 
today has been long. 
I’m tired yet awake, 
can’t escape the throng. 
Day light has ventured 
and left while I worked,
The night has arrived now, 
still never I shirked. 
My eyelids are heavy, 
my limbs they are tired,
And still on I toil now, 
my time’s not yet expired. 
Grateful am I 
for the work that I do. 
But soon I’ll be bidding 
A ‘good night’ to you.


Declining health

My health feels tattooed into my skin,
absorbed by my blood,
never failing to haunt my thoughts.

He’s always there—
in the background or up close,
still in the picture.

He doesn’t talk all the time,
But his silence isn’t the cure.

He screams during quietness,
digs into my brain like a gravedigger.
I don’t know when I’ll be buried,
but I know he dug deep.

His scream—
a siren—
doesn’t turn off, even after obeying.

He’s not that big.
Just a baby.

But he was granted authority early on.
And I keep sinking
into the hole he dug,
where no rope reaches,
and the dark learns my name.

Chronic; With No Cure

That for a room of torture
A castle wall inside
Pain's self- made does scare as much.
Pain's daily self-applied.

If not deeper, more gloomy
One's mental state therein.
At peace; that sorer grievance
Which envies others in.

Premium Member - Chronic Condition -


     Gasping folds of pain
     glued together - coexist
     Exclusive cracked glass
     unrequited conundrums -
          ... rhapsodies whirled infinite


When Hope Begets Hopelessness

H ealth forsakes you
O ver and over magic tonics promise recovery
P otential healing lures promising in the trees, again
E ven Eve knows better than to pick and eat, again

Premium Member Chronic Illness

To lie up in this bed and be so weak,  
Daydream of the world and can't even speak.  
Everyone thinks I'm strong, but they don't have a clue.  
I'm fighting for my life with everything to lose.  
People think I'm so strong, but I just smile to keep from crying,  
Shedding my pain to the side, but inside, I'm slowly dying.  
I ask my God why this is happening to me;  
I haven't lived my life yet; I have a family.  
To motion and not move, being paralyzed is cruel,  
But that is my life, and I've got everything to lose.  
Sometimes, I wonder why I stay.  
I'm getting older and older, and my life is fading away.  
Don't feel sorry for me; my mental is strong,  
But it's fading away because my physical is gone.

Afloat

I am simply trying to stay afloat 
In an otherwise sinking land
An escape between past and future 
An island of pain 
Treaded up 
Barefoot in the sand 
Grains of memories stuck in the creases 
Standing is sore 
Walking is sore
On my hands and knees I beg
Relief is all I pray for 
The physical and mental torment 
Occupying a vessel that doesn’t know how to swim 
My head hurts from thinking 
My hands hurt from holding on 
The sun hasn’t risen in a while now 
But the clouds bare a similar resemblance 
To the ache that wants to be unearthed 
Tears and rain, all in the same 
A necessary cleansing so we can grow beyond

The Eternal Pine Forest, An Unofficial Love Sonnet

I love the winter, the way it whirls my breath
Away; reminds me I am alive, there's hope.
I love the ferns bejeweled in snow, the heath
As it patterns our legs, walking forest-roads.
I love the spring, that washes snow away,
Brings flowers, strong roots, fragile and pale-
Seeming. I love the summer, storm-blaze
Lazy lightning, theater of stars, golden corn
That nourishes body and soul. Yet much more
I love my friend, Artemis-twin, born
Under the weight of July, dice against the score,
Surviving, with lightning bolt in her spine.
Her autumn rain, soft and healing, but strong,
Metallic purple dancing in wind-song.

Chronic

Chronic

Fool, that I was, I thought to be more
Only to be  gutted, and left on the shore.
To Doctor’s  appointments, I dutifully arrived
To be sent away,  told lie after lie.
You look so good, you must feel fine?
The only explanation, “it’s all in your mind”.

The package so shinny, the skin, so bright,
The body inside,  it’s tainted with  blight.
So many years, I lobbied and I strived,
Wanting more, than just to survive.
Nothing’s possible, all dreams, gone
Once, I danced, now, pain’s pawn. 
The day’s are listless, seas, becalmed,
Waiting for light, without hope of dawn.

A Fiddler's Demise



I feel riddled with sickness,
plagued by all infirmity.
Like a fiddle playing a -
score of sombre tunes.

(Kouta form - Japanese quatrain, 7,7,7,5)



03.20.2024

Chronic

Waking moments feel like eternity,
When pain swallows the serenity,
Everyday life is no longer the same,
"You seem to have Chronic pain" 
Doctors can't find the cause or solution,
I cry and scream,
Who is there to blame,
Not everything can be proven, 
but not everyone believes,
"Its nothing but laziness",
I scream mercy but they are all merciless,
Chronic pain,
Feeling shame,
Takes me away,
From the ones I love,
The person I was feels like a shadow,
The person I am now feels like a husk,
Chronic, makes me feel stuck,
The words "Are you okay?"
makes me feel sick to my stomach,
So I put on a smile and lie,
and say I'm fine,
its just "chronic".

CHRONIC LOVE

She 
Swallowed 
Love and it
Became chronic
Love disease in her life,some folks blaimed her 
while ignoring her true love toward him. 
Yes, she defined
True love at 
Him the 
Most.

What I Learned From Chronic Pain

1. know your limits
-don't exceed them when you know it will only cause you more pain
-push past them every day and embrace the sting

2. you aren't alone
-not only this, but you alone are not enough
        -don't let them tell you that you are
-you will only get through this with help

3. don't be afraid to cry
-you will hate yourself, your life, your circumstances
       -basically, everything you are and have and do and...
-but you are not defined by the times you trip, stumble, fall down, or crash and burn
-you are defined by the times you rise from the ashes, wipe off your bloody and scraped palms, and fight again

4. vulnerability is ok
-even if it's just you and your cat

5. tomorrow will be better than today
-life is what you choose to make it
       -if you believe that tomorrow will be better, it will be
       -if you tell yourself you'll get through this, you will
-even when it's not

6. you are stronger than you know
-that body of yours can take a whole lot more punishment than you could ever believe
-your mind is even stronger than your body
-you are beautiful and powerful
       -the struggle is what makes everything worth it

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