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I Give Up..

I Give Up...

I give up hundreds of times a day
Dragging air into my lungs
Thinking that Humanity will come to it's senses
Believing that anyone cares

I give up thousands of times a day
With every beat of my heart
Wondering if we can make the world better
Trying to do my part

I give up ten thousand times a day
Wishing for more strength
Trying to get better
Standing up for my convictions

Maybe tomorrow, I'll give up...
Giving up

Style / type: 
Free verse
Review Request (Intensity): 
I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
Review Request (Direction): 
What did you think of my title?
How was the beginning/ending of the poem?
Editing stage: 

Comments

There are so many things I like about this poem.
I love the increasingly magnified use of 'I give up' at the start of each verse.
I love the pattern of using your bodily senses in each verse.
I can identify with the sentiment.
A really good poem. Jx

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Love this piece, especially the ending.

Alid

down with a cold for the last week and watching a lot of T.V. I have emphysema and every little cold that comes along, makes breathing a real chore. So I sit watching T.V. and writing. I'll bet that gives you an idea of where I get my ideas! LOL Don't worry, I'll keep going, if it kills me! Thanks for the high-praise. ~ Gee.
.

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author comment

dear dreary me.....my minds colded up
in this spring heat..
dragging my ass off...grinding my jaws
at the meetings..revelations..
we are all survivors...there
young and old....like here..
pouring out the words like late night
radio...like mid day chatter scatter
bright as the squirels clambering on
the cables..running their wheel in my
mind...

still...i go on...came home bummed out
thinking..whats the purpose
and then...suddenly stood up
put down my coffee and got doing every
idiotic little chore i had to do here
dogs ears cleaned...satisfying..she cant
do it...was watching the news..but gave
up on that....then...made dinner..steamed
potatoes...while they steamed I scoured
out the fifteen year old fry pan..warped
in the center..fried on backed on proteins
of meats..sauces...used a spoons edge
feeling the crust scrape off to the honyecomb
pattern of non stick beneath...somewhat
satisfying....Was going to hit another meeting
aching knees..bike in need of a wash for months
now....the ol lady got on my case about sketching
in this coloring book bird with flowers for neighbor
lady we trade with....makes it sweeter when we go
borrow cigarettes....yes even if they kill me later
in life the smokes....so I just put on some crazy
music...followed by fifties nuke vids and docs...
and got down to it...Mind numbing...I cannot fathom
abstract art like some tatoo artists and the heads
can sit and doodle....but...its not exaclty the same
but I know she will like it..almost finished....took
a break and was going to pour coffee and noticed
the machine is all algae..tank sitting side...so
dug out the cleaner...bleach...got some brushes
from the art area down here and dug in...hours
later...run through a few tubs of water...done..
satisfying....noticed the kids gathered outside..
two young males and one female holding a long
board....right where my bike is locked....
I was young once....they might just be stopping
but...'hey joe...oh yah..this is easy..hacksaw
five minutes no problem' away they went..probably
just having fun....made bunni dinner...pulled in the
bike...my only ride...
dragged it upstairs after i put my clothes in the wash
..bucket of bleach..laundry soap..threw on track pants
and set the bike in shower...dirt..dust..a woolen sock
for wiping it down....two brushes....done...satisfying
then
had to wash shower stall...then sock....then brushes
i use it for everything..then cleaned bathroom...
washed wall....scrubbed toilet...vanity...implements
shiny...done..satisfying...
put dishes away...threw in shower curtian..bathroom
mats...made coffee....
put the grounds in the plants....
Five hours
of not watching the world slowly come unhinged like
always....
singing away to myself
dog sleeping..Bunni sleeping
my sore knee not as sore

morrow I roll into work on clean bike
clean clothes...wash my face..brush
my teeth in clean bathroom
dog wont be scratching her ears
medicated soap....wipe down

im not trump....nor a soldier serving
my country...nor a man dedicated to
his gang or crew...this is my small world
my little group of people that rely on
me.. my brothers and sisters here on
neopoet...my few followers on fb and
twitster....

but...i got a few things done
hung in there...
changed my plan and im glad
sometimes i just have to

i do watch morning news
detroit is my favorite for
some reason
and it will probably be
raining....i will do an epic
job at work cleaning up
the techies space...drinking
coffee and catching up on
the news with them all...
take lunch with them
and roll home..
finish the drawing then
or later after some net time...

feel calmer now...
strange how that works...

cold...vicks ..buckleys for
the lungs I swear by...
reading an adventure book
soothes me...

thanks for this poem brother
I hear you!

Steven!

that I could do half of the things that you did in one day, in a week! When I have these colds, just bending over makes my lungs throw-up! All the gook that lies in the bottom of them just slides out. My lungs are just like old leather. Any moisture in the air collects in them, kind of like a condensation unit. Too much damage from years of working in terrible environments and smoking. Not doing the oxygen thing yet, but not far off, if I want to live. Doctor has been at me for the last couple of years to use it, but don't want be hampered by tubes and shit. I have good days and bad days and even worse days. I'm a poster-child for non-smoking commercials! I've tried to tell the youngsters to quit before they can't and like all, they think "I have plenty of time, besides, I know many people that never quit and they are still alive, or they died of heart attack at eighty! I'm going to keep on trying though, because if I can get even one to quit, it will be worth it. Your bro, ~ Gee.
.

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author comment

my psychiatrist always tells me of the
mountian climber books
shes almost eighty and still beautiful
still going strong..
she prompts me on the altitude and
its affects..oxygen depletion
that giddiness and forgetfulness
a kind of delayed delirium
I know she tells me these stories
trying to fathom my strange mannerisms
and thoughts
said there is only one other client like me
and he can barely get around on a bus
it took me years to figure out streets
patterns.names..times...years..
i would always get lost and end up
walking...i could not read the maps
today is not a good day
i fear going outside and among people
old worries imprison

now...my people who worked in industry
and smoked....many with lungs donated
to the cause as I said exist...some on
oxygen...pushing a cart..new knees
they dont give up....they catch the disabled
bus...which u have to book in advance
four days and hope for good weather
all of them in their time were forces to
reckon with...maybe why they can reckon
with the change as well now i reckon...
pun not intended....i feel sad today
the joys and losses...and how we do
keep going....
a trucker friend arrived at a meeting
he was only just retired and he was
in a truck all his life...driving everywhere
stateside..canada....no roads were
too challenging.....a man of widsom
and pespective
he was shakey on his feet and was
leaning on me....he was afraid
as we all are when that shadow of
great doubt passes through us...over
us....the realizations....but he stablized
did the meeting..
i only picked smoking up after a long
many years of not....but i know
its taking its toll...
perhaps that lacodasial ego driven
self destruction thing...
my belief is that ego exists on all
levels...even in reason
my greatest thing is to get it under
control....

i knew people with cystic fibrosis
too....they won there and died on
a motorcycle crash....well not won
but they were living...along with the
regime of care....sometimes in all
aspects of our journey we must work
harder....maybe even we find the
true self..or reaqauint..or meet people
we never imagined...
units platoons of the same battle
swept hill..valley..river..
our bodies are emplacements
our spirits a bit more freer of
movement

hope you find some dryer summer
weather soon!
your brother Steven!

even in small, occasional doses. That can be enough for some people to be ale to cope much more easily with the strains of life.

Keith Logan
the happy chappy
https://www.neopoet.com/community-guidelines

Love the uplifting endig lines.
Hope you're feeling better Gee.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

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I have to give up giving up, many times a day. I will get over this cold, just like I've gotten over every other one. I'm better today than I was yesterday and I will be better tomorrow. I'll never give up on the human race, I have confidence that we will overcome our predilection for violence and realize that the only way we will survive, is to become one race, one brotherhood looking out for each other. BTW I love R.F. ~ Gee.
.

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author comment

I have to give up giving up, many times a day. I will get over this cold, just like I've gotten over every other one. I'm better today than I was yesterday and I will be better tomorrow. I'll never give up on the human race, I have confidence that we will overcome our predilection for violence and realize that the only way we will survive, is to become one race, one brotherhood looking out for each other. BTW I love R.F. ~ Gee.
.

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author comment

"I have confidence that we will overcome our predilection for violence,"
unfortunately all history is against it.

Keith Logan
the happy chappy
https://www.neopoet.com/community-guidelines

sorry, didn't get what you meant with R.F.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
https://instagram.com/poetry.jo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Robert Frost.

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author comment

but we are learning. We have to learn that we are our own worst enemy. Then we will succeed. ~ Gee.
.

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