All is lost.
I refuse to believe
Light still shines.
Hope is fading.
It is foolish to think
Strength remains.
I am ill.
I do not concede that
There is a cure.
Hope is slipping.
It is absurd to think
I will get better.
And this will all come true unless we reverse it.
Squirrels in the branches rustling the leaves,
Scurrying up the trunks of the horse-chestnut trees,
Lightly dancing through autumn’s browning shroud,
From branch to branch, thin branches bowed.
Hunting through the leaf litter, gathering the nuts,
Through the furrows, ditches and cuts,
Head on a swivel, survival’s a must,
Autumn’s bountiful harvest banked in trust.
The cycle of life roaring against the age,
Before winter arrives with its icy cold cage,
Transforming the landscape, hiding the bank,
Its fingers grasping, tugging the veil.
Where once existed deep reds, yellows and browns,
White has taken over and frosted the ground.
Many will live but others will perish,
Before springtide appears and winter is vanquished.
New life arrives in bitter green shoots,
And once again scuttling come reds and greys,
The gnawing, the nibbling, the reconnaissance of trees,
The cycle repeats as seasons march on.
Dressed up in absolute silence,
Empowered in wonderful quietness,
Heard in royal toughness,
and moved in hushed stillness.
The beautiful darkness I hold in my heart,
I put on my quiet voice in the loudest muteness,
Nurturing the miraculous motion in the fiery mind,
A cinematic dream is growing up in blackness.
Fading into the shifting sand and pure tenderness,
The dark melody is played in a tragic paradise.
I am free now, and freedom is my company,
Accompanied by my glittering rusty iron sword.
I am a slow-motion darkness,
I am a shiny, frameless mirror,
I am sliding like water,
Still holding the lineage of the warm blood.
I carry blackness between maybe and once upon a time,
The beauty of motion lives in tremendous calm.
Remarkable reticence deserves greater murkiness,
as darkness paves the way to beautiful mystery.
I am walking on a single thread,
I am running out of time,
I am sinking into maybe and once upon a time,
I am focusing out of a silver dime.
The city lights are blinking,
The memoirs are getting blurry,
The colours are running out together,
The world is drifting in motion.
Is this world only mine?
Are your tensions becoming vague?
Are you sinking into the light beneath the balcony door?
Are you craving the signs?
The desecrated smile on your face,
The mistakes are hazy,
My planet is losing shape without your voice,
I am trying to locate your gaze.
If I fall, is that called freedom,
Or just another circle made?
I am not lost or out of focus,
But I don't want to lose my grip on the strand.
To my home town I pledge to my soul
To alway return to thee, my sun only set in thee
Blossom show me and brighten thou smile
Chipping and rushing is thou beautiful court
Laughter ,harmony is thou strength together we dance
In war,in cry and in ceremony
A smile in sorrow if thou goest down
But fight and struggle to rise again
Training and playing with those of our future
To love thee,and dance in merry
A dance in sorrow and never letting go never ever
When the future of the morrow stand together with the past of yesterday
We make a change
We rise and never fall even if we stumble we stand straight again like the sun.
CEDAR
Magnificent cedar
Struck by lightning
Sap bubbling
Survives
Scarred
Changed forever
I remember I fell through that wooden floorboard.
I was careless where I stepped, and the weight of my mistake made me fall right through.
I remember the embarrassment I felt... it nearly broke my self-esteem.
I can hear them use their traitorous tongues.
I remember I walked carefully over those wooden floorboards.
I see their eyes glare and hear the whispers of people who judge me for treading so cautiously.
I am wary of what they are saying. ..of what they may think.
I walk confidently around that wooden floor.
I am aware of their judgements and their hateful glares.
I don't care what they think.
I no longer have to tread so carefully.
I can run free.
I remember...
I was a child with questions, no answers in sight,
Why was love absent, why was home not so bright?
A little girl stood in a storm alone,
Searching for love that she had never known.
But then two hands held me, old yet so strong,
My grandparents whispered, "Child, you belong."
They did not ask about my scars or past,
They gave me love that would forever last.
They taught me to read, to write, to dream,
To find my voice, to proudly scream.
Where mother left shadows, they gave me light,
They turned my darkness into mornings bright.
So no, I am not broken, not lost anymore,
I have found what I was looking for.
I am not the tears my childhood knew,
I am the love my grandparents grew.
MY BOOK IS FREE FOR 5 DAYS! (Sep 1-5)
My dear poetry family,
My first book "My Rules To Win" is now LIVE on Amazon and it is FREE for you from 1st to 5th September!
This is my thank you gift for all your love on my poems.
Please download it today (it's free) - Just search on Amazon:
"My Rules To Win by Koyel Mandal"
You will find it - it's free for 5 days.
If you like it, please leave a small honest review on Amazon - even "Inspiring and beautiful" is enough.
Your one review means the world to me.
With love,
Koyel Mandal
P.S. Link is on my author profile bio!
They circled my desk
I drew flowers on my page
The bell rang; I stayed
Rain strikes her bare face
She plants both feet in the mud
She faces the storm
Poet's Note
Dr. Abdus Salam (1926-1996) was born in Jhang, Pakistan. He became the *first Pakistani and first Muslim to win the Nobel Prize in Science* in 1979. With hope and resilience, he showed the world that greatness can rise from humble beginnings.
Bite Size Contest no 151
Theme*: Hope & Resilience
Chalkboard Dream
Abdus Salam dreamed on a chalkboard
Dust and cracked shoes reached the sky
Storms of doubt, no hand to guide
Still he earned Nobel pride
For Pakistan, for Muslim light
Hope and resilience never die
-
she is an oak tree
roots drink storms in deep silence
still she shades the dawn
He wandered away from troubles
but he never gets tired of solving
whatever he does…
always with heart and soul.
He stayed strong through many hardships.
Whoever tries to strike him down,
he still rises without holding back.
He keeps walking--
even when the road is not easy today too.
This Week's Poetry Challenge: Exactly 50 Words
Write a poem using exactly 50 words.
Challenge Dates: July 27, 2026 - August 2, 2026.
I am calmly motivated
through adversity ,
with a holistic salvation
we are never undeserving ;
always be the headway
from afterworld .
(Weekly Magnetic Poetry Challenge • July 27–August 2, 2026)
Sub Categories
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