Resilience: 40 Years

By Lawrence Hoffman

Resilience: 40 Years is a collection of poems that describes to the reader the different daily emotional aspects of different life situations of the author, such as thinking the worse in a bad situation or the best in a good situation. There are some poems with far-reaching depth and others with lighthearted daily life—all describing the emotional impact of said situations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662454356

Book preview

The Death Zone

See you not, the death zone

Know you not what terror lives

See you not what lurks beyond your door

Harness the fear that grows in you

Kill them

They’ll do worse to you

Know you not the hatred

The hatred that lives

Breathes

Has domain

Over us

Stay you

Safe in your bed

Stay you

In this life you know

Know you not

What terror awaits

Stay you far

Far from the death zone

Fear the death zone

February 7, 2017

The Darkness

Enter the darkness.

The darkness grows

With every step.

Deeper into the darkness,

Fear overtakes me.

Adrenaline flows

As I walk

Faster, faster.

Must I run?

What reaches for me?

Heart pumping.

Does the darkness end?

The light,

Run to the light.

So close,

Yet so far.

Terror consumes me

As I escape

The darkness.

February _/_

Left for Dead

Left for dead,

Too weak to stand.

Don’t give up,

Keep pushing forward.

Conscious,

Unconscious,

Conscious,

I open my eyes.

Friendly barking,

Which way do I go?

Lead me home, my K9 friend.

Falling,

Must get up,

Must keep moving.

So weak.

Dizziness overtakes me.

Will I escape this nightmare?

The sun comes and goes,

The moon passes.

Crawling to drink,

Standing at the road,

Looking at the light,

The light of the way home.

February 7, 2017

The Outcast

Quickly walking the halls,

Never to be noticed.

Defiant by nature,

More knowledge than offered.

Feeling misunderstood,

Off from the crowd.

No conversation,

No companion,

So many paces,

Yet so lonely.

Am I to ever be noticed?

The corner,

I walk and stand alone.

Lack of interaction,

No outside opinion.

Am I to always be alone?

Who will befriend me?

Who will betray me?

No friends,

No trust.

Solitary man,

The outcast.

February 7, 2017

Becoming a Man

New thoughts surface,

The world changed

Yet still the same.

Notice what arouses me,

Take in such beauty I see.

The beauty of women

Curves to excite even the coldest heart.

Excitement I too feel

This beauty is different,

Different than what I know.

Priorities changed,

Mentality changed.

Is this manhood?

Do I put the boy to rest?

Is this the man’s time?

A new world,

Neve to be the same,

Changing every day.

Am I changing?

Is this life telling me

I’m becoming a man?

February 7, 2017

Death Follows Me

Death,

It follows me.

Always close,

Smiling at me,

Taunting me

So many times.

So close,

Yet so far.

Does death become me?

Must I dance

With the keeper of death?

Do I lead?

Do I follow?

Not yet.

Life

Has still not left me,

So I go on.

As the new moon

Comes and goes,

I close my eyes at night,

Never to know

When death shall come.

February 7, 2017

The Light

Darkness surrounds me

Infinite darkness

I must find the light

I live in darkness

Empty

Darkness

Show me the light

The light of love

Happiness

Trust

Bring me joy

Such joy I’ve never known

Closer

The darkness lifts

As I see a glimmer

A glimmer of hope

Hope

Of one day reaching the light

The beautiful

Soothing

Light

February 7, 2017

The Unpredictable

Life

Always ever-changing,

Never knowing

Which direction

It will take me.

Days come and go,

New adventures,

Always changing.

Home differs,

Differs endlessly.

Where will I go next?

Which path shall I walk?

The clear path

Do I navigate?

Navigate the obstacle course,

The obstacle course of life?

Will I prevail?

Will I fail?

Time,

Time reveals all.

Time will guild me

Through

The unpredictable.

February 7, 2017

The First

Hesitant,

Nervous,

Clueless to which action to take.

New experience,

An event never known,

Never known until now.

Nervous hesitation,

How do I proceed?

What is to be

The right move?

How do I touch you?

How do I arouse you?

Do you really want me?

Does the alcohol

Cloud your judgment?

Are you true?

Am I to be mocked?

Mocked for lack of experience?

Will I ever know

Know what I’m doing?

What I’m doing

With this being

The first?

February 7, 2017

The Dirty Highway

The strip

A continuation

Of the death zone

Cheap rooms

Ever-changing

Location changing

Hatred in the air

So thick

It weighs heavy on me

The underbelly of society

Underclass

Mentality like nowhere else

Kill or be killed

Guard

Be on guard

Expect the unexpected

Never slip

Slip into confidence

Fear becomes defense

Defense against all

Always defend

And be ready

On the dirty highway

February 7, 2017

Audobon

The hood

A world of its own

Danger

Danger lurks in the shadows

Care-free mentality

Crime

Murder

Robbery

Crimes of all forms

Drugs in abundance

Loose women

Player on their top game

Game to use hearts

Use hearts for personal gain

Watch your back

No room for heroes

Hero becomes victim

Victim to suffer

Suffer the wrath

Suffer the terror

The terror of the hood

Of Audobon

February 9, 2017

The Drugs

Different substances,

Different worlds,

Perception altered.

Another mind,

A cold mind,

A hateful mind.

Life altered

Destroyed the mind.

Never the same again.

Who am I?

What happened to me?

Have I lost who I was?

Never to be seen again,

I beg you please,

Give back who I was.

My quest,

Never-ending,

Never to find me.

Me is gone,

Unseen,

Lost forever.

Fear the drugs.

February 11, 2017

The Overdose

So high.

Another world

Too high.

No sleep for days,

Too high.

Can’t sleep,

Need to sleep,

Fear overtakes me.

What’s happening to me?

Will this feeling leave me?

Is this the end?

Fun taken too far,

Staring death in the eye.

Must fight,

No death.

Too soon to go,

Not ready.

Shaking,

Can’t stop shaking.

Help me,

Help me get through this.

Help me survive

The overdose.

February 13, 2017

Lust Intentions

Lust in the air

Heart-shattering lust

Shattered hearts

A hundred fold

I deflower you so

To never know love

Only lust

Empty

Lust

So meaningless

Yet so wanted

To fill the void

Yet the void remains

Never enough

Too much

Be there anything

To fill the void

The emptiness consumes me

So blank

Yet I cry inside

Bring me love

Love that will kill

These lustful intentions

February 15, 2017

Locked Up

Limits tested,

Laws broken,

Trouble comes to me.

Charges pressed,

Tried,

Convicted,

Sentenced,

Freedom lost.

Time,

Time to serve.

Careful,

Careful who you befriend.

Manhood tested;

Is this to be another lesson?

A lesson to never forget.

Time served,

Lesson learned,

New path taken.

Stay within the law,

Never lose freedom.

Never again,

To never again be

Locked up.

February 17, 2017

The Disease

The first of many

One too many

A thousand never enough

Shame

No sham

My soul is drowning

The drink

Always another

More and more

Must have more

Bridges