Hardships of Life (Callum Finlay)

The following slam poem was submitted by a poet named Callum Finlay. This poem is provided as a written poetry piece, and is a painful, bit ultimately hopeful look at life challenges.  Leave a comment to move this poem up in the rankings. Our poetry comment system is intended to facilitate feedback for our artists, and to promote creative communication. Don't just read poetry -- take the leap by submitting, commenting, and following.  

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Hardships of Life

He comes home early to a pile of bills,

Working 60 hours a week there's no time for thrills,

Man of the house he's got to provide,

Food on the table for his family to survive,

He's just a blue collar guy,

Trying to get by,

In this corrupt and greed ridden world,

His benefits been cut to less than a third,

Government says he earns too much,

A ploy of bigger bonus' for the bankers and such,

Minimum wage for a family of four?!!

I guess it's more for the rich and less the poor…

His factory is being shut down,

It’s being shipped out to a foreign town,

A place where the workers work for scraps,

Working for pittance until they collapse,

Without a job he'd struggle to pay,

The family expenses that come his way,

Everything will be fine his wife would say,

With that, his mind flashed back to a previous day...

His punk band playing at an underground scene,

This was where he met his beautiful wife to be,

He saw her smile at the crowded bar,

With her by his side he knew he'd go far,

The years go by and he starts to realise,

Music ain't gonna hand him a golden prize,

His wife told him earlier they've a baby on the way,

So he looks for a job the very next day,

He vowed to do the best he could,

He quit the band as he thought he should,

One day he was working along,

He heard his band playing their song,

On the radio their music was playing,

Hearing this at work was devastating,

They were now the biggest thing in town,

He had to go home with sorrows to drown...

As the bands success got bigger and bigger,

Each bottle went quicker and quicker,

He found himself battling with addiction,

His lifestyle was bound to cause friction,

His wife had issued an ultimatum,

That he turned his life around with affirmation,

From that day on he never looked back,

Even when he heard his old bands track...

Back to the present day,

He knows he'll find a way,

To bring money and food on the table,

His family needs him to be stable,

He couldn't let them down,

So he gathered them all in a crowd,

He vowed to do the best he could,

He said f*** that old band, for good...

Now we all have something that we regret,

But there's no life button you can just reset,

You can't turn back the pages or the faces of time.

You gotta realise everything can be just fine,

There's always gonna be times of strife,

But that's just the hardships of life,

Do something that makes you smile,

Something that makes you feel worthwhile,

Find your calling; find your passion,

Do whatever it takes to make it happen,

You're in control of your time here,

Don't be put off by the things you fear,

I suppose this is the best advice I can give,

Choose to live..."