Long Surviving Poems

Long Surviving Poems. Below are the most popular long Surviving by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Surviving poems by poem length and keyword.


Premium Member Gano65 fall from Cefalu grace

Celebration of death 
Peter Gargano and his 
son Peter memories 
meeting at the clock 
restaurant fort myers 
right before traumatic 
brain injury blessings 
many laughs prayers  
are with the family 
reminders from license 
plates RFP RIP it’s really 
helpful getting terrorists 
threats on license plates 
especially when I have 
to get 12 nerve blocks 
injections in my head today 
actually every 25 days 
traumatic headaches 
severe pain and suffering 
memory care centers 
after surviving hurricanes 
I’m reminded of hurricane 
Charlie grateful an yet 
traumatic events Peter
remembering Peter Gargano 
the the trauma it’s almost 
like he’s still with us like I 
didn’t witness his dead body 
leaving this world or all thee 
other wise guys hitmen 
The Don of Don Boss of Bosses 
all dead controlling terrorist 
threats on license plates 
I’m reminded of mob boss Frankie
boy cali being gunned down holding 
his license plate organized crime 
terrorising me for wearing 
wires pregnant buying 
weapons and drugs from junk 
sick officers being a rat exposing 
mafia hitmen no I’m no 
Sammy the Bull or John Gotti jr 
big Paul bambino who suffered 
a rash from his Mexican maid 
Christmas time before being gunned 
down without ointment of course 
not Carlo Gambino nor Domenico Cefalu 
no just a mom a grandma the fbi 
just warned me my ex husband 
set fires with gargano killing 9 
people before I knew a car bomb 
ignited my skull Peter stood over 
my blood soaked body to go 
over investments insurance 
monies my memory of my 
wearing wires pregnant for the 
fbi saved my life today is a 
gargano kind of day happy 
heavenly birthday Peter Pete 
and Peters Just in case I’m 
brutally murdered by this ongoing 
hit on my life because I refuse to 
allow the mafia extort my American 
Poetry brings me to tears today fondly 
remember me writing American poetry
Form: Masnavi


In This Lifetime

I need you in my arms
I need you by my side
I will cause you no harm
Understand my pain
"Only in this lifetime"

Along this path 
I was absorbed through misery
I became known as 
What you all call today 
An outcast
In all my words 
What would make you think
You couldn’t come to me 
I’ll do all I can for you
I have fallen from grace
So I can no longer adore truth
Right or wrong, for better or worse
I could never leave you without a home
I try to do more good than terrible 
But these are times of Paine
And they make life unbearable
All kinds of suffrage in this living
Find someone to be there
Better times to envision

These overshadowing events 
and circumstances 
Shape us into the individuals 
We might one day grow to be 
You say you’re making it
I’ve grown to become a college brat
I too am surviving
Maybe one of us 
Will one day relax upon a better day
Other than that
There’s no wishing this weather away
How can I be what was never taught
The personality I sold 
Was the image you all bought
And if I don’t fare through the night
It doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fair fight
Days I could see myself 
Through your eyes
As a child flying a kite
So smile things will be alright

In a stand still moment
You ran away from home
Ambitious and following 
The wrong scent
In depth I think
So my thoughts 
Seem to rush the children away
It’s not that I preach
But I can’t afford to lose 
So I push the obvious Pilgrim away
Gone silent, visually awry
Awaiting an angel to call me
Witnessed my shadow
Fall not far from me 
Sympathetic exposure 
Amidst the thunder and clouds
Is it okay to wonder aloud 
Did I bring us 
The worst of you and me
On my knees 
I need your arms around me once more
A pint of Evan Williams by my side 
Did I become vulnerable
Me or you whom shall we grieve
Don’t you wish things were wonderful
On my last stance 
Until then and perhaps
This old man’s back may collapse
Takes a breath, for he’s not leaving
He relapses and keeps breathing
Form:

Decolonize

It has come out of academia,
and gets some play in the media too,
they cry about ‘decolonization,’
as if time is something they can undo.
They all say it is wrong to go against this,
and I have only a bachelor’s degree,
so who am I to question all of this?
We must decolonize! Listen to me!

We must look to our own America,
and realize that we just don’t belong here,
all pale people should go back to Europe,,
but doing that’s not enough, it appears,
the black people here also have to go,
they must be returned to African shores,
Asians must leave, and mixed blood Latins types,
they can’t be tolerated here anymore.
All the roads and rails also have to go,
since they all came from colonizer minds,
and the natives left can’t live in houses,
they must return to pre-colonized times,
Tipis, longhouses, and no metal tools,
no medicines that aren’t native to them,
smart people say we should decolonize,
they must be living as nomads again!

And oh, how I wish that we could stop there,
but America does not stand alone,
Europe once conquered so much of the world,
the influences they left have now grown,
like those famous Indian long-jackets,
they came from British colonizer frock coats,
Yoga come from British calisthenics,
it must all stop if there is to be hope!
Africa should not be using railroads,
or surviving using high-output crops,
colonizers brought these things to their lands,
for the sake of their people, they must stop!
The Japanese should not be building cars,
or make electronics amongst the best,
they should reject all of the Meiji years,
should cast out all influence of the west,
You cannot wear jeans or dare go online,
cannot wear glasses in front of your eyes,
the colleges spoke, and we must listen,
throw it all out! We must decolonize!

…or, we could just ignore this sh-t and go on with our lives.
Form: Rhyme

Premium Member A Gnawing Urge

Meet Otis; drug addict and alcoholic.
            He walks the razor's edge of life daily.
A sad sack of a man bedeviled by stubborn demons.
Swimming against the tide of recovery; crying out for help.

                        Surviving one day at a time;
struggling with addictions threatening to submerge him in a quicksand,
wrestling with harrassing voices in his discombobulated head.

      They keep swirling around him like a noisy, bothersome flies.
            He's pulled into a rabbit hole of temptation
                        everywhere he goes. His gnawing urge...

to drink alcohol growing stronger and stronger at happy hours.
            His addiction to cocaine and heroin is just as potent.
      Each day, he tries his best
                        to stay sober, but can't do it alone.


Submitted for...
Writing Prompts - Fragmented Spaces - Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Constance La France
Theme: sadness in life
Dates posted: 07/29/2021

Premium Member The Fifty-Seven Firestorm

They met back in school when perms were in style..
Now they’re fifty-seven and wickedly wild.  
A sisterhood forged in detention and pranks..
Now fueled by cocktails and cackles and tanks.

Derani and Adrianne? Soulmates for sure..
Joined at the hip and bonded by lore.  
They gossip, they giggle, they drink in sync..
And dare you to challenge their best-friend link.

Then there’s Jacqui.. a goddess of stage.. 
She channels Cher’s drama, Eurythmics rage.  
She belts out *"Believe"* with a wig and a strut..  
Mic in one hand, the other on her butt.

Michelle may be small, but don't take her lightly..
Her shoulders are boulders, her grip is unsightly.  
She once arm-wrestled a guy twice her size.. 
He cried, she flexed, and winked both her eyes.

Tracey’s just ditched a man full of crap.. 
She’s sipping red wine and plotting a slap.  
She’s single, she’s spicy, she’s dancing on chairs.. 
Shouting, “Freedom looks *hot* — and I’ve got new wares!”

And dear Marlene, the host with the most..
Baby sis of Adrianne, proud to boast.  
But don’t cross her vibe or you’re bound to regret..
She’ll say “ off” before lighting a cigarette.

They toast to the past, to the mayhem and men..
To surviving their youth.. and doing it again.  
No filters, no limits, no shame in their game..  
These queens of the chaos will never be tame.
Form: Rhyme


Premium Member Losses Regained

Like Winter
predicts Summer

Dark grey suffering
is not yet total green forest
and blue sky loss

As one cold
lonely voice
isolating experience
need not preclude
warm
yet alone
embracing vulnerable memories
transparent images
anticipating full-bodied reconnections,
compassionate life choices

As EarthTribal respiration
invites EarthMother regeneration
wombs reproductive
eggs
nuts
seeds

Surviving thistles
not yet Othering
weeds

As painful apartheid
is not yet anxious death
nor anticipating life

As isolating trauma discoveries
are not yet therapeutic
solitary thoughts
anticipating glad feelings
passionate 
about sacred intimacy,
boundless recovery.

The Survivor

Who is that woman in the mirror?
The big blank eyes.
The mouth that never smiles.
The hands, always shaking.
I don't know her.

What can I do?
I am afraid of everything and everybody.
I only want to be home.
But I don't want to be alone.
I don't feel safe.

Why am I always crying?
Anxiety attacks that take my breath away.
Flashbacks of violence, so lifelike.
My body still hurts from his fists.
I don't know why I can't heal.

When will I be me again?
He stole who I was.
He broke me into a million pieces.
Then he gave the pieces back.
I don't know where the last piece is.

Where will I end up?
If I don't have that last piece,
Am I still a survivor?
I'm a blank image.
Alone. Unsafe.
Crying, anxiety, flashbacks and hurting.
Unhealed.

Please tell me,
Is that really "surviving"?

The Brightest Girl In The Room

She didn’t deserve it
Yet death never ceases. 

She was the brightest girl in the room
Despite injuries blocking her passion.
She conjured smiles and laughter and eye rolls
With everything she did.

Then she experienced her first loss
And the candle flickered if only for a moment.

Then she was back to herself
For even death could not stop her.

Until it tried again.

And after it failed another time,
It came again. 

All in less than a year.

I sat and watched in silence
Watched her being comforted after sharing the news of yet another funeral
And wondered
How she does it
How she still gets up in the morning
Puts on a smile
And keeps on living
Not just surviving.

Because I was her just a few short years ago.
But instead of staying strong like she does
I crumpled
And gave in to the weight of the loss.

Yet this girl still has that innocent look on her face
And the spark in her eyes.

So either she’s so good at faking
She’s convinced the most experienced empath,

Or we could all take a page out of her book
And take what life throws at us with her grace.

THE WARRIOR

I was born into a war 
I was born into a war 
I Was born into this war 
And I couldn’t even talk 
I didn’t know how to walk
I hit the ground surviving 
Heavy fire, Heavy losses 
Broken will broken compass
On death ground 
Death behind me 
Death ahead of me 
Surrounded  No space to retreat 
No way home 
This is no way to live 
Its no way to go
The enemy was  within 
No secrets no strategy 
No manoeuvres No being clever 
This is not go This is not chess 
I am no Hannibal I am no Scipio 
I am no Ceaser I no Napoleon
I am no general I am no emperor
I am no conqueror
I don’t make the decisions 
Just obedience to violence
Mano a mano 
Running low on ammo
Not a moment to breathe 
Blood all over the camo
Screams and limbs flying
Bodies piling, blood is flowing
The flies are multiplying 
The maggots are feasting 
And its only just starting 
what is certain 
I will die here 
I will die at the end
I don’t get to make it out ahead
I will be dead
I have not given up but I know the reaper
He’s a friend
I have seen him hugging my brothers
I have seen him show spite 
I have seen him show mercy 
 he is the angel of destiny
Ordaining us to be saints
Or giving swords to be martyr’s
The pain is mounting 
And I am out of cocaine 
The medics are out of morphine
And its already too late for  me 
I am bleeding , badly wounded  
Intestines are hanging 
One arm is missing 
I am being brave 
But heart can only take me so far 
Fighting to the end  feeling woozy
I can’t hear a thing I think I am dying 
I can’t just lay down and die 
I can’t just lay down  to die 
I-can’t let them just win
I can’t just stop.

Premium Member ONE SCREAM

Preparation being the treat in the trick
Buckle up
The start leading into Halloween
Nothing in between
One scream into multitudes
Sudden eerie conclude
Darkness fills the sky
Horror upon horror and no one knows why
Dead souls having a need to rise
The night of fright through surprise
Blood thirst crave
Beyond behave
Souls searching for flesh
Maneuvering rapidly with the time left
Hidden horror on the hour
Outward approach
Spoken words that can’t get out
Lightning and Thunder alert
The flash with an electrifying jolt
Awaken to rise
Night of Michael Jackson’s Thriller
Fright cold spelled chiller
Screams to whisper
Surviving if one can
The Full Moon won’t say
Run if you dare
The goons were be fair
All about Quench, Eat and satisfy
Fright Night
Sheer delight

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