#exhaustion poems on Hello Poetry

Cain Arkay Lazarus May 2022

i lift my shoulders and hunch my back
don't look at me don't look at me don't look at me
walking faster, heart racing, i feel the presence getting closer
leave me alone leave me alone leave me alone
i break into a futile sprint

it's not as though i can speak
tell it to leave my sight
tell it i have nothing left for it to take
hope it believes me
while i shove the final page of my story deeper into my pocket

i know better than to lie to this thing
my legs are growing heavy as i try to outpace it
but it's no use
an experienced hunter, the creature waits for me to exhaust myself running from it, then moves in for the ****
at least there, i have the last laugh-
i have already died from fear

#hunted #extinction #running #fear #panic #terror #death #exhaustion

Sophie Mar 2022

Flower on the Footpath

I am a flower
growing in the way of a footpath,
from a crack in the pavement,
dog ***, human feet shuffling,
bicycle tire spinning

I am a sunflower, glowing
in the morning light.
through sparkling mist,
which sits beside me, feeding
me sweet nothings and soft
droplets.

I am a wild rose,
my thorns are sharp, my
petals are delicate.
My roots reaching,
so deep into the earth,
yet the water has evaporated,
even in those depths, my roots are
cracking,
my hips are drying out.

I am a flower in the middle of a footpath,
I have been trampled and I have
been peed on and biked over.
I am trying to stand up again.
I am trying to stand up again.

Inspired by my habitat restoration work in crowded areas. Watching plants survive being trampled and peed on gives me hope and yet makes me feel so hopeless. How can we expect a flower to bloom after being so abused? It is how I feel about my own life. I have been "abused" many times by others, by life itself. "I am trying to stand up again"

#flower #flowers #plants #exhaustion #abuse #perseverance #rose

Glenn Currier Feb 2022

Deliver me...

Across the burnt field
I carry my load
I pierce the smoky expanse
my energy flags
I yearn for rest
but the burden gets heavier
I am alone
and slog for both of us.

I converse with my mind:
“Please, a small spell
to float this flood
to higher ground.
Find an ounce of push,
then I can unravel.”

A midnight exhaustion overtakes me
I lay depleted
at wits end
I pray
a surrender
concede
abandon
my self
gaunt, frail, devoid.

Before sleep an appeal
to a power greater than me
deliver me from these ashes.

After a complex surgery my wife is in a painful period of recovery. Together with the help of friends who bring food and love, and with divine assistance, we will make it. BTW, the prayer worked. I woke up the next day refreshed and ready for what would come.

#endofrope #exhaustion #surrender #prayer #hope #deliverance

Ella Feb 2022

Enough!

Enough glass analogies for me
Your sharps words are your apology
Even though I’m yelling at ghosts
You are what makes me hate ME the most

I hate the rocks I carry for you
The heavy stones you used
To smash me into pieces

I was gonna say broken
But broken parts can be fixed
And I’m yelling at ghosts
I’m screaming at the smoke

That’s not a few stitches
It’s a lifetime of surgery
Piecing together the old memory of who I’m supposed to be

It’s a lifetime of being soaked
Naked with no clothes
Drowning in the rain that always came
The predictability is what killed me
But most times it was your name

I keep saying you
I have no clue who I’m referring to
Just a big monster taking up space in my brain
A collection of mementos colored by pain

#exhaustion #pain #anger #sadness

neth jones Sep 2021

exhaustion nap

grateful to the grave
       I plank right out
my bed a cross pounded
foundation of maul emotion
fast out kipping
not in keeping
a widowing and not a kingdom
              milling out gawping
a fish mug
              tourists chugging at the gallows
dread heaves ugging repulsions
          my sleep is a gagging panic

livers of the hours
   the minutes are a live toil
     difficult digestions
       the sour beat n' breath
a particle flecked arena

   this slumber is harmful charge
(a battery matter)
capable of a faulty
              reversal of surge
depleting sleep
          not a springtime emergence
   ejected from the unconscious

         : a drained agent
reduced and submissive for duty

#sleep #nap #battery #exhaustion

Alexis K Aug 2021

Tired

I wish I could tell you,
Just how tired I am.
But the word tired is not strong enough.
Exhaustion would make it sound as if I had been running marathons.
Yet even sitting in my room all day,
I am exhausted by noon.

The moment I awake in the morning
With the sun rising, the warmth on my skin
and butterflies flying, birds chirping away the day.
As soon as I open my eyes to the trees in view,
I am tired again.

I can sleep all night and never make a sound.
I could sleep like a rock, and still.
I am so tired.

I am tired when I am alone
and I am drained when I am not.
I am tired of fighting myself all day long.
I am tired of being tired.

Even though I want to say hello,
I am too tired to engage.
I am too tired to stand up for myself,
or interject to correct.
I am sorry my being tired gets in the way.

It gets in the way every single day.

#depression #tired #exhaustion

Lulu Sarmiento Jul 2021

Numbness

Why does the water tastes bitter?
Why does the wind smells acrid?
Why does the sunshine looks gray?
Why does the days feel empty?

#exhaustion #tiredness

Rhys May 2021

Your Voice

When I work so hard
that my vision blurs
and my heart weakens
I listen to you sing

#voice #crush #exhaustion

Sarah Flynn Apr 2021

giving, giving, giving

I keep telling everyone
how beautiful they are
and how much they matter
and how much I love them.

I spend all day motivating
the people around me.
I say such encouraging things,
and I mean every word,

but why can't I say
the same things to myself?

#love #exhaustion #tired #friends #family #learning #acceptance #myself #selflove #growth

Julia Celine Apr 2021

Rose

I've seen how beautiful you bloom
That's why I work so hard for you
I've seen the power of your flourish
That's why I stick around
Even though you pierce me
That's why I bleed so nice for you
But all my hopes and dreams are memories
That I tried to plant on snowy grounds

#growth #memories #exhaustion