Hardened my Heart
I tried to be soft hearted
warm, funny and kind
but it never ever worked
for this old heart of mine
So I hardened up my heart
learned to be more tough
knowing I was never ever
going to be enough
Love I never found
it never came around
I was used and abused
so I stood my ground
I gave up on the life
I thought was for me
I hardened my heart
and it felt more free
‘You get what you give’
and I gave a lot!
a saying not true
so now I’m not soft
Love passed me by
dealt a raw hand
A loveless life
not what I planned.
Cold echoes wake the ancient cobblestones,
A hardened soul now walking all alone.
I leave the past and all its grief behind,
A wraith of shadow, silhouette outlined.
A hardened soul now walking all alone,
The chilled ghost of my dying flesh and bone.
A wraith of shadow, silhouette outlined,
The silhouette, a haunting shadow met.
The chilled ghost of my dying flesh and bone,
Grey light breaks down upon the frozen stone.
The silhouette, a haunting shadow met,
As breathless quiet fills the heavy air.
Grey light breaks down upon the frozen stone,
My footsteps echoing a heavy tone.
As breathless quiet fills the heavy air,
And wraps the darkness tight around my chest.
My footsteps echoing a heavy tone,
I leave the past and all its grief behind.
And wraps the darkness tight around my chest.
Cold echoes wake the ancient cobblestones.
Note: AI-assisted artwork created to accompany my Pantoum poem. Written for the "Double The Swap" poetry contest, a poetic form created by Joseph May in 2025.
Fighting with memory
a weapon supreme
To vanquish the darkness
and all that’s unseen
Recalling the missteps
of battles long past
Our fury is guided
— time hardened and fast
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Stone now beats inside,
Undisturbed by softest touch,
Wounds have made it hard.
©bfa051925
Destroyed cosy inquisitioned in light
Detective sun floods roof lifted abode
Harsh ray revelation, shark menace bite
Adrenaline daggers stab at forbode
Fireplace safe scaffold coughs in sunken fog
Flight frantic response compels departure
Haggard recognition, choked chimney smog
Accumulates lump lung coal disaster
Sorrow will slow her, solo is her plight
Spat at offers smoulder in disregard
Heroine rejects, chest prison gate tight
Ashes of apathy, bleeding heart barred
Swift blow attack ad libs a survivor
Merciless evacuee manuevres
29th May
There is a sting to winter’s kiss
cold memory reignited
a vision through watery eyes
a mirage of moments blighted
weary tracks of empty snowshoes
thinning lines on crest of hill
swallowed by a cloudless sky
the stinging bite of winter’s chill
crystal tracks of hardened teardrops
frozen on love’s time numbed cheeks
wait in silence as they listen
as love’s windblown distance speaks
John G. Lawless
©1/18/2022
STEEL LIES UPON
NON FORGIVEN
AN ENDING RESULT
OF HATRED WITH MADNESS
THE COLDNESS WITH SADNESS
REPROACHED ON EVERY ANGLE
A TORCH ALWAYS LIT
THE GRIN WENT IN
A PUNCHING BAG ONE BECOMES
UNTIL THEY HAVE WON
THE ANGER, THE SORROW
HOPING FOR A BETTER TOMORROW
THE HEART SO HARD
THE LIPS ARE LONG
TRYING TO TARE THE HEART APART
NO REMORSE, NO KINDNESS
REPEAT AFTER REPEAT A DANGER ZONE
FROM THE EARLY RISE TO THE DEEP DARK
TORN TORN WITHIN
THE SAME METHODS ALL OVER AGAIN
NEVER TO FORGIVE, OR NEVER AMEND
THEIR SOUL IS WITH MADNESS
THEIR HEART IS OF WOOD
NO GLADNESS, NO SYMPATHY, NO SORROW
THE MIND IS OF DEEP HURT
A STRANGE SPIRIT APPROACHED.
PRAYERS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
THE HEART WILL BE SOFTEN
FORGIVENESS OF THE MATTER
THE LIFE CAN BE MUCH BETTER.
NOTE: THIS MESSAGE IS FOR ANYONE THAT HAS UNFORGIVENESS IN THEIR HEART TOWARDS SOMEONE. IT IS MUCH BETTER TO FORGIVE. PLEASE ASK GOD TO GUIDE AND HELP YOU. PRAYERS, PRAYERS, PRAYERS.
WITH MUCH LOVE.
Throughout my life the bridges crossed
so many times I’ve loved and lost
as hopes and dreams were used and tossed;
my hardened heart had paid the cost.
I felt as though I couldn’t go on;
a darkness loomed at break of dawn;
my hopes and dreams forever gone;
I felt my heart was but a pawn.
Remove the hardness of my heart
that’s not where it belongs;
replace it with your tenderness,
and sing to me your songs.
To my surprise one sunny day
a gentle spirit came my way;
an angel sent from far away
to ease my heart, its aches defray.
A southern voice so soft and sweet,
just like a bluebird’s morning tweet;
a song with such a gentle beat,
to sweep my spirit off its feet.
Remove the hardness of my heart
that’s not where it belongs;
replace it with your tenderness,
and sing to me your songs.
And now my sun is shining bright,
my heart no longer bears the blight
of hardness felt in dark of night;
now deep within I feel love’s light.
May 22, 2020
LOVE HARDENED
I would o'erstare the sternest eyes that looks
Outbrave the heart most daring on earth
Pluck the young sucking cub from the she-bear
Mock the Lion when he roars for prey
But in as much as I proclaim all these
I can never bite more than I can chew
And if there's ever a god greater than me,
I will run as far as God has any ground.
But even I, a daring desperate determined dare dazzler
Wouldn't wait for doom without my heartrob.
VickWizzy
Vick Manuel Poetry {VMP}
Copyright © 2009
LOVE HARDENED
I would o'erstare the sternest eyes that looks,
Outbrave the heart most daring of crooks,
Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear,
Mock lions when they roar for a prey that stare,
In as much as I proclaim all these all through,
I won't bite more than I can chew
And if there's ever an heavyweight greater than this pound,
I'll run as far as God has any ground,
Only in the arms of my eternal flame
Cos my love for her will ever remain the same.
VickWizzy
Vick Manuel Poetry {VMP}
Copyright ©2019.
Violent and miserable
had more support
than being calm and loveable
In a reality T.V. world
That's global
Love and goodness
are feigning
The future of humankind and community
is just a matter of awakening
to what's entertaining.
5/1/2018
Kale Brereton
Cruising the hardened streets,
Inhaling the bouquet
Of lively, wicked San Francisco,
Where chicks in heels
Somehow reveal,
An eloquent, famished soul,
Tending to knights,
On shiny pretty nights,
Cloaked in their fabulous
Gaberdine impressions,
Longing to seek acceptance
From ravenous forces,
Among the supple horde,
With few examples,
Ones rich in forsaken noble urges,
Change the world,
By simple stroking,
New rules invoking
A daring type of protocol,
Measured in leaps and mounds,
Severed from frenzied, mangled morals,
The kind you like to chew,
And spit out,
In order to salvage,
Your sense of decency,
You claim resiliency,
And return this fresh-flavored tab
To its rightful owner,
Juice seeping,
Remotely flowing into gaps
Which never intend to heal,
Let alone stop,
For closure means
The end of languid trepidation,
Edges clear themselves
Of thorny, pointless brush,
Seeking conflagration,
From any ignition
Willing to play the part,
And we sit, knowing,
That classy, shiny edifices
Like to devour
Our sense of wanting more,
Not for ourselves,
But for everyone,
And everything
That truly matters.
(8/3/04)
Wind weathered dream severed
eyes hollow stare blankly out
rough seas washed away hopes
hardened hearts die
fragile souls cry
hastily built walls
stones tumble
broken in a blackened sky
masses filter the catacombs
steeple's raise notice
dropping down suddenly
Your thought not to hate
But why I hate you so much
Lord please come into my heart
My heart has hardened
She left me
Left me with the boys
I loved her
But she loved the bottle
Smoke
Party
Streets
Friends
She was unloyal
Had my questions DNA
But my genes run deep
Lord bring forgiveness in my heart
I want to break her down
I wish she drop dead
No I don't
Lord help me please
How could she
I wanted to be family
Be a man
Do right by her
5 years no calls
Letters
Visits
Now you expecting again
How dare you
Lord bless her soul
Will you abandon
This one
I pray not
Lord take this hostility
Out my spirit
Take it out
This built up anger
Remove it
Lord my heart hardened
-Patrice Jackson and Ricky Jackson
Hardened Thoughts
To those who tell me what I can and can’t
I have no words to sway their mindless curse
nor would they listen should my voice unveil
the emptiness of lips echoless purse,
aspiring to restrain youths sudden joy
assuage depleted chests with stolen gold
sit idly in the chair of hardened thoughts
unable to release the chains of old.
In their hearts lie the tyrants of I can’t
fearful beggars that kneel at open gates
imprisoning the reason of the free
within the total blindness of the fates.
Unable to admit just how they fell
enraptured by this mindless state of hell.
3/5/2016
Submitted to Rob Cormack's "Screwed" contest
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