A World Away

Charles Edward York 1966 (Saigon, Vietnam)



A World Away

The undiscovered country is a world away
Smoke and mirrors are transparent
Compared to my future
Tea leaves from tragic tales
Read like a mystery novel
And the tides of tomorrow
Appear gloomy at best
As waning waves
Wash me in tears.

Struggling to find work with a living wage
Crashes against the wall of denials
Rejection becomes regular fanfare
Applications are shot down
In a keyword filter
Riddling my desire
Into dilapidated desperation
It feels futile to ask
For a chance to just live.

I stroll down a street of broken dreams
Feeling alone until I see
The shattered smile of the jobless
Those who can’t afford food
Unable to pay bills and basic needs
Medicine stays on shelves
Instead of curing the sick
A better life is a world away
When a hand goes empty.

Copyright © 2023 Charles Edward York
No part of this poem may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or form or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the written permission of the author.*

About this poem

The futility of job searching

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Written on August 15, 2023

Submitted by charlesedwardyork on August 15, 2023

57 sec read
6

Quick analysis:

Scheme A AXBXXXXXX XXXXBBXXX XCXXXXXAC XB
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,043
Words 192
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 9, 9, 9, 2

Charles Edward York

Charles Edward York is an author and poet activist living in Plano, Texas. He’s written over 1400 poems and published 17 books of poetry. Born in Vietnam and raised a citizen in Dallas, Texas, he writes poems that include the subjects of love and relationships, nature, social justice, including police violence against African-Americans and minorities, astronomy and others. more…

All Charles Edward York poems | Charles Edward York Books

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    "A World Away" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/166673/a-world-away>.

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