Poems and Poetry Weekly Newsletter: 23/02/2025
A soulful contribution by Oganga Mangiti.
SOONER THAN I THOUGHT
Sooner Than I Thought
If they ever ask what did me in?
Tell them it was the pain,
The pain I so struggled to overcome;
This pain;
It came and made a home of me;
And with the passing time,
It just might take me out sooner than I thought.
© Oganga Mangiti
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
How Did We Get Here?
I often wondered how I got here,
How I became so "emotional,"
How I became so "weak,"
Why I stopped pushing,
Why I stopped putting in the work,
Why I became so fragile and lost my resilience;
Was this always me and I hadn't noticed it before?
Was this as a result of how life had thrown me so many challenges?
Was this a lack of will and the creeping in of depression?
We still hoped for brighter days;
And hoped that we’d never give up;
But I still wondered how we got here.
© Oganga Mangiti
WHY WE KEPT SEARCHING
"Years ago, we looked at our lives, as if it was, and would always be poetic. We wanted to find purpose, hence we proclaimed that we would dedicate our lives to searching.
“Why We Kept Searching,” is an ode to that life and that man. Though so many years later, we don't seem to have found what we went searching for; and though that path seems bleak; we somehow still submit to that ideal. To constantly keep searching."
Why We Kept Searching
Our search for more,
Our search for all that we never became;
Our search for all that we could have become,
Our need to somehow keep keeping on,
The many ends that came with this life;
The countless doors that would always be shut to us,
The pain of hope and the sadness it brought;
The frustrations that lingered a little bit more after,
The countless questions we asked ourselves;
Doubting if we had the will to become;
The fears of becoming a statistic;
The reality that things could somehow get better;
And maybe, hope;
The one thing we detested,
But silently wanted and needed;
Our reason to find solace in this dark world,
And maybe this is why we kept searching,
The reason we kept going;
That hope, that maybe something could be found,
Something more than the pains we felt,
We somehow understood this life,
Somehow understood and accepted it's cruelty;
But hoped we wouldn't conform;
Hoping to find that which we searched for,
But somehow, still couldn't quite find.
© Oganga Mangiti
A WORLD FULL OF CRUELTY AND PAIN
A World Full of Cruelty And Pain
I wondered if you felt the frustration,
I wondered if you could read the hopelessness in my words,
I wonder if you felt these words, the way I wrote them,
This life,
With all it's cruelty,
Sometimes, makes a home of us and never leaves,
This is why our pain becomes;
Our only reason to live,
Our only reason to submit to it's cruelty and pain.
© Oganga Mangiti
LIVING WHILE STILL HERE
Living While Still Here
The depression didn't do me in,
But it could have;
It could have consumed me whole,
And left only bones,
Where I once stood tall;
The pain;
My one and only, true companion;
My safe space in this mad world,
The only thing I could hold on to,
And truly feel;
I couldn't help at times,
But think that this world was never ours;
It wasn't our home,
And we were just passing by;
But I yearned to at least live while I was still here.
© Oganga Mangiti
TRAUMA BONDING WITH OUR THOUGHTS
Trauma Bonding With Our Thoughts
These thoughts stayed,
These thoughts festered;
And these were wounds,
That could never be healed,
It always felt like trauma bonds,
Parts of us,
That we would always hold on to jealously,
Parts of our past that we would always guard selflessly,
We had known better,
Seen a different more gracious life;
But this was our reality right now,
And those old wounds from before,
Are the reason we still live in the now.
© Oganga Mangiti
LETTERS TO OLUDHE
Letters To Oludhe
One day,
The letters I write to you,
Will be beautiful;
They will be full of hope,
And the resilience we seemed to have lost;
This is my one true promise to you;
But until then,
Accept these letters,
That are full of anger and hate;
The ones that tell of my depression and frustrations;
The ones that lay all my dark thoughts bare,
For you to see and read;
For one day,
A beautiful day will come.
© Oganga Mangiti
“This has been my solemn contribution to you this week. I hope these words have rang true to you, as they have for me. This has been my saving grace and show of love to you, my beloved.”
What piece stood out to you the most? What poem or string of words resonated with your core? I would love to hear all about it in the comment section!
I constantly appreciate the love and support.
Get a copy of my latest poetry and short story anthology, To Heal A Broken Heart, here, and you can learn more about it here.
You can also get a copy of my very first poetry anthology, Love & Pain, here, and you can learn more about the journey thus far here.
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May your days be gradually filled with more and more light. May your aperture be wide enough to notice.
Always with love,
Oganga Mangiti.