On Life, Loss, and Angels
©2019 Susan Noyes Anderson
Image by Brian Kershisnik
Life brings challenges and joys.
Our path to progress was foretold.
We chose the bitter with the sweet
and vowed to step out brave and bold.
Nobody gets a kick out of writing hardship poems, for obvious reasons. We write what we know, and most of us are just as happy keeping hardship a stranger. That said, we all go through times of trial, and writing or reading cathartic hardship poems can lift our spirits considerably. Sometimes, we need to wallow in our misery a bit. Other times, we need to vent about it. Much of the time, though, we are simply looking for a ray or two of hope. In this section, Hardship Poems, you can be sure to find plenty of all three. I hope you also find some relief, as I did in writing them.
FINDING THE POEM YOU WANT: As you scroll through this section, simply read each snippet sample (usually the first four lines) to get a feel for the poem. When you find something you like, click “CONTINUE READING” to view the entire poem.
(My work may be used free for non-commercial purposes only. Please request permission by email and include full copyright information, legibly printed, on every copy made. For internet use, a link back to the poem on this website is required.)
Life brings challenges and joys.
Our path to progress was foretold.
We chose the bitter with the sweet
and vowed to step out brave and bold.
What is your move
the day you realize
no matter what goes down,
worse things can smite you?
In ways I cannot always see,
I know God watches out for me––
His loving instinct to protect
expressed as I might not expect.
Tonight the lights blew out on me
at 12:06 AM.
The darkness swept in like the sea;
the power’s out again.
When my burden seems overlarge,
I flatter myself that I’m in charge.
Yet every cross was borne before
by One who comprehends much more
of trial and sorrow, grief and pain,
than I could ever hope to gain.
Perhaps I’ve slipped the bonds of earth too soon,
or maybe I have simply loosed my grip
and orbited, a rather ghastly trip
that leaves me somewhere underneath the moon.
When life rears up and strikes me down,
when all the world turns bleak,
I look to God for hope and find
the comfort that I seek.
Be with me, Father, on this day
when worries steal my peace away.
Watch over ones that I hold dear,
and let them feel thy presence near.