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I’m Here

Posted on by Spark Editors Under:Poetry Tagged with:,

by Barbara Gurney

Life often gets us down to a point we can longer function. Everything seems to be drag us further into the mire. We struggle to operate. But, despite the wallowing, we survive and finally tomorrow seems hopeful. Barbara Gurney writes a poem on a woman who is struggling but has the willpower to reach out to help and take hold of her life. 

I’m here

Here, in the pit of my life
Like a slug
A snail, stomped on, not wanted

Here where Satan hunts for lost souls
Who’ve lost the ability to crawl out of the mire
No sun
No light
No promise

Liquid gloom slurps across my shoulders
Oozes down the folds of sagging disappointment
Pervades the hollow between my breasts
Adheres to the lips which once smiled
The taste of grime fills me with fear

Sewage of despair clings
I’m polluted with misery
Capability suffocated
Options drowned by relentless doubt

I’m here
Here where I don’t want to be
Like a refugee
A wanderer in a distant land

My fingernails dig into the wall of tomorrow
Scratch at possibilities
I grip the imaginary curb of the future
I rehearse expectation
Peek at optimism

I’m no longer there

I’m here
At last
With hope

Barbara Gurney is based in a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. She writes across several genres including fiction for adults and children and free verse poetry. Barbara enjoys creating memorable characters and exposing life experiences; something new, different.

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