Is It Worth the Struggles? by Jill Sharon Kimmelman and Elizabeth Ogumodede

Writing poems has never been 

my choice

Without stories spilling from my very core 

death of my spirit is a certainty 

Take my leg, a strong willing one stands

ready to step in

Pierce my heart, I shall learn

even trust enough to someday 

love again

Take from me my pen and ink

all that spatters and bleeds 

My soul remains firm to write again

banish all pain 

reveal raw emotions while beginning 

the process of healing

Writing is freedom

a way to scale thorny walls of all our 

prison gates

My poems crafted within 

a safe brave space 

initiate changes

guide me in deliverance of wisdom learned

Poems are goals to accomplish the promise of 

their mission fills me with strength 

Without writing

hope vanishes

confidence wavers

ideas never attain fruition

Neither martyr nor orator 

spinning words to convey personal grievances 

lashing out at whatever comes to mind

all the while knowing 

they are barely treading water

No, I am a warrior poet 

determined to seek and meet

reach for answers

celebrate and thrive 

inside a hard-won peaceful new world order.