Tag: Life Poetry

Forged In Fire

For steel to strengthen, it must first be immersed in the hottest flame.

The strength of a man is forged the same.

The Phoenix rises from the ashes bearing no name, a slate with no stain – nothing left to lose, everything to gain.

Innocent beginnings and excruciating endings. Lessons learned the hardest way. Hard lessons created the man you see today, and inspired him to find his own way like a battle-tested soldier.

What hurts, but does not kill you only makes you colder. It raises the limit of the weight you’re able to carry on your shoulder.

Because of that, I’m bolder in the sense that no thing can fear me. You can feel confidence radiating when you stand near me. At this point a cast iron pan couldn’t even seer me because I’ve been initiated — far from my final form but I’m ascending to a top-tier me.

No longer aimlessly pursuing. Instead, cultivating my mind is what I’m doing. And I’ve grown to appreciate the pain I feel from the flame

Because it reminds me that I’m still human.

Q. A.

Look In The Mirror

The plague of the modern ego appears increasingly insurmountable.

Entitlement has spread like a wildfire.

It has almost become taboo to hold one’s self accountable.

The path of least resistance is usually the default selection,

So why shoulder any of the blame when it’s easier to choose projection?

With each passing day, the irony becomes even clearer.

We live in a world ruled by selfies, yet people are afraid to look in the mirror.

Perfect Imperfection

Looking for love in all the wrong areas.

Probably staring you in the face, but its imperfections are scaring ya.

Waiting for perfection is waiting to be taught a lesson. 

Nothing will ever be good enough, and you will continue to throw away heaven-sent blessings.

Social media is filled with ungrateful, scorned peasants.

Heeding advice from them will lead to a reality that is unpleasant.

Follow your mind and heart, don’t veer from your destined direction.

Because inside each and everyone of us lies perfect imperfection. 

Diamonds Are Forever

Success isn’t given, it is built. What distinguishes the successful from the unsuccessful is endurance. Real love isn’t something you just stumble across. With the exception of a parent and child’s love for one another, it isn’t something that is obtained effortlessly. It is perfectly imperfect just like the weather. There will be sunny days where it resembles paradise and there will be rainy days that make you consider folding to the pressure and giving up. But the rain strengthens our appreciation for the sun. The 2 form a natural balance. Endurance is the determining factor in the strength and growth of anything in the natural world. You train your muscles to endure resistance when you exercise, and as a result, your muscles grow. Real success, real love, anything real is built, and just like a muscle, it is built through endurance.

Will the dream mansion you fantasize about daily just fall fully constructed from the sky into an empty plot of land? No. That mansion has to be built from the ground up. It is built on a solid foundation, through genuine effort and dedication. It must be built so that it is capable of withstanding any storm that threatens to knock it down. And if it is built correctly, it will last for generation after generation after generation. Through all the setbacks, delays and adjustments, the construction of that dream home still finds a way to carry on because those obstacles that are intended to make the endeavor fail are a part of the same process that will make it succeed.

There is a reason why diamonds aren’t formed effortlessly. Things formed in ideal conditions with minimal work put into them aren’t likely to prevail through the storms. The endurance of pressure makes diamonds. Diamonds are forever.

Q.A.

Road to Glory

Cloudy days will come and cloudy days will go.

Everything in life is not meant for us to know.

Everything in life is not meant for us to feel.

Everyone in life will not discover what is real.

But those who will, will discover at their own pace

That you can’t progress in life by running someone else’s race.

You will cross the finish line when it is your due time,

And your success will not be measured by first or last place.

So, slowly and steadily grind in your own lane.

Keep going. Glory lies on the other side of struggle and pain.

Q.A.

Untitled

It’s such a small world,
But it’s an even shorter life,
And there’s no universal way to live it wrong or right.
Look out for you.
Of yourself, never lose sight.
Keep your head to the sky even when sunny days turn into dark nights.
For when it’s most dark, the stars shine most bright.
Never let the world’s shadow dim your life’s light.

Q.A.

The Pursuit of Happiness

One of the keys in life is finding true happiness.
It is a key that will unlock doors you never knew existed.
Most people have a flawed view of what it means to be happy.

They believe that external sources can improve or give birth to a happy life or a satisfied soul.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth and here’s the proof…
There is no external solution to what is internally deficient.
If your mind is depressed, you’re in need of proper mental nutrition.
Anything from the outside that brings one joy can be easily taken away like a child’s favorite toy.
But one’s possession of a happiness that is rooted from deep within is the possession of true happiness that knows no end.

Q.A.

Gotham

The heart of the city.

I once controlled the rhythm of the beat.

When the days turned dark,

Your spotlight shined bright in the sky.

I would drop everything

With no reason as to why.

I’d run to you, and if I had wings I’d fly

As fast as I could because for this city

I’d might even die.

Your conspicuous vigilante

Always there to save the day.

To wash away and decimate all dismay.

Rain poured, thunder growled in a vicious rage

And my cape was in the wind

Knowing there would be no wage paid.

Just peace of mind knowing my city was safe

From the thought and feeling

Of stress and no escape.

Now the sands of time have washed this city away,

Yet I still can’t convince myself that I shouldn’t stay.

What was once in order, now in total disarray.

With only me left with a balance to pay.

The price of wasted time and irrational effort.

Misplaced devotion, an unsuccessful endeavor.

Energy that could’ve been invested

In a less temporary treasure.

None of my actions were driven by pleasure,

But by the dream of this city lasting forever.

However, nothing lasts. To believe otherwise is silly.

Still, it hurts to know that there is no more love

In the heart of this city.

Q.A.

Wildfire

Another rainy day in Louisiana…

How much water does this place really need?

Swamplands, marsh, gulfs, rivers, daily torrential downpours.

The heart of this place pumps H20 it would seem.

An abundance of life’s essential ingredient is hardly a bad thing…

But I mean, I could think of a place out west truly in need.

I guess that’s just life’s game. One goes without, while the other lives in excess.

A cycle that has been in existence since the beginning of time.

Survival of the most fortunate.

Maybe life has 2 circles instead of a singular.

One yearns for a miracle, the other has the single cure.

The yin and yang phenomenon shows it’s face, yet again.

The fortunate and misfortunate.

The former with nothing, the latter with everything…to lose.

As I sit and watch futile raindrops trickle down a glass window…

Whose authority is it actually to choose these rules?

As rhetorical as this question may appear to be…

I suppose life is merely a dream.

Is my subconscious taking me down a winding river stream?

Sharp turns, choppy waters. All leading to a penultimate waterfall.

The height of my expectations dictating how hard I fall.

Whether inside my punctured boat, or swimming freely immersed in the element.

Both have the same ending.

Engulfed in the vast stream, my internal wildfire reverts to clouds of steam…

How much water does this place really need?

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By Quan Robinson