LIFE'S STORMS

Phil Roberts 1957 (Melbourne)



A gray-haired man near fifty-two
Is staggering through the storms of life,
He's given up on dreams of success
Now he merely struggles to survive.

Without real help from parliament
He tries to struggle on alone,
A lonely man without a family
He's forced to get by on his own.

An invalid on a paltry pension
He struggles to even pay his rent,
Through he has to report to CentreLink
He gets no real help from the government.

Life's storms have nearly broken him
But still he somehow struggles on,
Although he no longer dares to dream
And all his hopes are surely gone.

Life's storms can break the strongest man
The way they've nearly broken this one,
But somehow he'll keep struggling on
Until his final day has come.

He wonders on alone and lonely
The end of life he hopes is near
Since nothing ever warms his life,
And nothing more can bring him cheer.

The storms of life have broken him
He staggers on in resignation,
Resentful of his very life
A life without expectations.

Still, he cannot take his life
His preacher says it is a crime,
So he staggers through every day
Just seeing out his time.

THE END
© Copyright 2021, Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

About this poem

Another poem about the down and out.

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Written on 2008

Submitted by PHIL_ROBERTS on July 15, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:05 min read
1

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXX BCDC EXXB FGXX XEGX DHAH FEAX AIXI XXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,135
Words 212
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

Phil Roberts

I turn 65 on the 31st of January 2022. I love cats, rock music, and horror fiction and poetry more…

All Phil Roberts poems | Phil Roberts Books

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