Hardship Poems

A Good Sense Of Humour Blunts The Sharp Blades Of Reality

Good Sense Of Humour Blunts The Sharp Blades Of Reality Poetry
Contest //Sponsored by: Natasha L. Scragg
( 2nd Place )

Written: August 5, 2025


When life threw me a curveball,
I stumbled—then chuckled mid-fall.
Lumped knees, not pride, I wore like bent,
because sneering is something I've seen.

In chemo rooms and vestibules,
I frenzied dry jokes on aseptic walls.
Doctors simpered, nurses would

The Starry Cow

One More Cow, One More Sow
Another acre cultivated
By a shining plough
The farmer’s son takes off his hat
Wiping the sweat from his brow

Their productive loans are being called in
Lives changed at the financier’s whim
To survive, they’ll work for life and limb
Yet their malnourished bones are wearing thin

The processor purchases milk below cost
And no buyers for our

a tear tattooed at the corner of his eye

hardship chiseled in his features
silence laden by a troubled past
his thoughts kept to himself
behind an invisible wall of insulation
while his face speaks to me in whispers
of a history muddled with shady details

eyes reveal that regrets he's had a few
and dreams now seem out of reach
yet there's a part of him that refuses to give up


AP:

Life in the Penitentiary

Steel bars whisper cold truths at night,  
A jungle of killers, no room for fright.  
Survival ain't luck, it's blood and bone,  
Earn your name or die unknown.  

Respect ain't given, it's taken in war,  
A blade in the dark, a fist to the jaw.  
Weakness is death, don’t

Pearls - Two Line Quote

"To make pearls out of grit
is to make sorrow and hardship a thing of beauty"

Suicidal Hardship

My government 
Has not approved
Helping the poor.

Going down town
Ancient food chain
Menu price up.

Market items
Rotting all eyes
Left empty hands.

My eyes eating
Paint hamburger
Cramps my belly.

Hardship Has Tale

Each trial has purpose
Every hardship has mercy
Makes us grow each day.

Say No To Tobacco

Have you ever wondered that/
Tobacco can affect your mental health/
Think about your life/
Before you lit that first cigarette or cigar/
Did you ever get in trouble/
Did you have any drama/
Did you fight with your lover or soul mate/
Were you ever rude or a hate warrior/
Did your heart turn black after that first cigarette/
Tobacco affected my own

Voice To Skull

When you get a FISA Warrant/
For electronic surveillance/
From psychic spies with/
Mind Control with psionic/
And radionic technology/
They first attack you with/
Voice to skull technology/
Which is voices in your head/
Their first objective is to make you/
Appear as a schizophrenic/
Medications will only amplify/
The effects of that technology/
You know you're not schizophrenic/
You know you're a victim/
Of that program because/
You

Caged Animal

We started off with being/
A human stuck in a tiny box/
Like a caged animal/
Day by day, we lose our senses/
To be poked and prodded/
Day and night for amusement/
This is a game to them/
Looking into the cage/
To rile the beast within/
The expected become unexpected/
The situation becomes dire/
Crying in desperation/
Remember,  it's a human being/
Locked away in

Is today a new year?

Is today a new year in any way?
Thirty first and first look too much the same.
The snows that the sky and cold winds still spray,
Are still making me feel cold without blame.
Hardship bought me no coat on a cold day.
Homelessness is what they falsely proclaim.
But there, in their closets coats beg to leave.
My back pleads

Gothenburg Penitentiary

Gothenburg Penitentiary, the hardest of the hardest/
The concrete jungle, where everyone is heartless/
Gothenburg Penitentiary, the show now mercy/
So, you gotta learn to swim in murky waters/
Gothenburg Penitentiary, my heart just sunk/
The next fifteen years of my life I'll be sleeping on a bunk/
With a celly who's a mess and a cell that smells of funk/
The

HIND sight 20 20

In shadows deep, where silence lay,  
A moment came and stole the day.  
A choice I made, with a very heavy heart,  
Unraveled dreams oh it tore me apart.  

I watched the light fade infront of my eyes,  
As questions swirled, like quiet lies.  
“Why did this happen?” travelled

The Ladder

Yes
It's rungs
May be covered in rust
But commit to the climb
To learn how to trust

Yes
You'll fall
Again and again
Caught by the arms
Of a very old friend

Yes
You'll be put
Back at the start
A journey to the place
Where you're never apart

Yes
Your hands
Will be battered and bruised
Take solace in a fate
You surely didn't choose

Yes
This climb
Has no real end
But neither does the

For Those About To Die

they line the streets like forgotten bones,
clothes clinging thin, skin and bones,
as hollow as an unanswered prayer—
they die on corners, in alleys, out there
with eyes full of shadows no one dares see.

the city walks by with pockets stuffed deep,
suits and stares, faces blank as receipts,
and the doctors, their hands are slick with fees,
and hospitals open

• Short Hardship Poems
• Famous Hardship Poems
• Best Hardship Poems
• Read Hardship Poems
• Long Hardship Poems
• Hardship Quotes