June 6, 2020

Steel

By Tony Brown

I wasn’t born
to be a sword,

to be the thrust point
of any fight;

I’ve lived a whole life
of blunted regret over that.

I was asked
to be a shovel,

to dig deep,
put in unsung work;

instead I lay there 
dissatisfied, a waste of steel.

It’s not too late
to shrug off self pity of course,

but now instead of
turning my own soil,

I should help dig others’ gardens,
load them with compost

I’ve been hoarding
for a lifetime,

provide some hope
that what will grow there

will fuel the next generation
of steel.

About Tony Brown

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A poet with a history in slam, lots of publications; my personal poetry and a little bit of daily life and opinions. Read the page called "About..." for the details. View all posts by Tony Brown
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 6th, 2020 at 4:22 am and tagged with , , and posted in poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

2 responses to “Steel”

  • Lucy's avatar Lucy
    June 6th, 2020 at 6:03 am

    Beautiful, this is so beautiful. It made me tear up a bit, especially the first few lines. Just… wow. I can absolutely connect with this; I love the meaning and theme throughout this piece that delves into our own personal growth and what we truly seek in life. Excellent piece that is evocatively and eloquently written. ❤️❤️

    Reply

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