96 Poems about Change to Learn to Face the Inevitable

Poetry has been a means of expressing human emotions and thoughts since ancient times.

Poems about change help us confront and accept the inevitable differences in life, giving us the courage to face challenges and move forward.

These change poems help us reflect on our lives, recognize our strengths and weaknesses, and embrace new beginnings.

Whether funny, short, or long, poems about change offer a powerful message that can inspire and uplift us.

You May Also Be Interested In:

• poems about waiting
• poems about memories
• poems about home

Famous Poems about Change

Explore the famous change poems written by poets who are eminent with a far-reaching voice. They have written about change and its impact on our lives.

1. Wild Geese

       by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

2. Love’s Change

       by Robert Bridges

So sweet love seemed that April morn.
When first we kissed beside the thorn,
So strangely sweet, it was not strange
We thought that love could never change.
But I can tell — let truth be told —
That love will change in growing old;
Though day by day is naught to see,
So delicate his motions be.
And in the end ’twill come to pass
Quite to forget what once he was,
Nor even in fancy to recall
The pleasure that was all in all.
His little spring, that sweet we found.
So deep in summer floods is drowned,
I wonder, bathed in joy complete.
How love so young could be so sweet.

3. Change

       by Kathleen Jessie Raine

Change
Said the sun to the moon,
You cannot stay.
Change
Says the moon to the waters,
All is flowing.
Change
Says the fields to the grass,
Seed-time and harvest,
Chaff and grain.
You must change said,
Said the worm to the bud,
Though not to a rose,
Petals fade
That wings may rise
Borne on the wind.
You are changing
said death to the maiden, your wan face
To memory, to beauty.
Are you ready to change?
Says the thought to the heart, to let her pass
All your life long
For the unknown, the unborn
In the alchemy
Of the world’s dream?
You will change,
says the stars to the sun,
Says the night to the stars.

4. The Song of the Potter

       by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round,
Without a pause, without a sound:
So spins the flying world away!
This clay, well mixed with marl and sand,
Follows the motion of my hand;
For some must follow, and some command,
Though all are made of clay!
Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change
To something new, to something strange;
Nothing that is can pause or stay;
The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
To-morrow be to-day.

5. The Struggle

       by Edgar A. Guest

Life is a struggle for peace,
A longing for rest,
A hope for the battles to cease,
A dream for the best;
And he is not living who stays
Contented with things,
Unconcerned with the work of the days
And all that it brings.
He is dead who sees nothing to change,
No wrong to make right;
Who travels no new way or strange
In search of the light;
Who never sets out for a goal
That he sees from afar
But contents his indifferent soul
With things as they are.
Life isn’t rest — it is toil;
It is building a dream;
It is tilling a parcel of soil
Or bridging a stream;
It’s pursuing the light of a star
That but dimly we see,
And in wresting from things as they are
The joy that should be.

6. Sonnets to Orpheus

       by Rainer Maria Rilke

Want the change.  Be inspired by the flame
where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.
What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid
and is easily shattered.
Pour yourself out like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.
Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive.  And Daphne, becoming
a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.

7. A Little Bird Am I

       by Hanna Heath

I ask but this one small thing.
Give me the worldly skies
For I cannot stay trapped here
A little bird am I….
Let me leave this here land.
Don’t keep me in a cage.
Let me fly to the highest heights.
Let me come of age.
Let me soar among the clouds.
Let my wings spread into flight.
I need to be free; I need to see
The world without a fright.
I have spent my life so grounded,
But my instincts pull me up.
They tell me to go, to see the new,
To finger each buttercup.
I need to witness greatness,
need the sorrow of poverty.
I need to show the world my wings
And shed this gravity.
I want a life of freedom,
And I want to know what’s real.
I want to step to the edge of earth
And watch the sea reveal.
I want to take the longest ride,
And I want to feel the wind
I want to share this life with you,
So, forgive me, for I have sinned.
For I know I’m leaving you behind
To shadow in my wake,
But I cannot stay in these four walls
Simply for your sake.
I will keep you in my mirror.
With me you’ll always be.
I will share with you my tales,
And I will return to thee.
So I ask but this one small thing
Give me the worldly skies
For I cannot stay trapped here
A little bird am I….

8. Proverbios y Cantares XXIX

       by Antonio Machado

Wayfarer, the only way
is your footsteps, there is no other.
Wayfarer, there is no way,
you make the way by walking.
As you go, you make the way
and stopping to look behind,
you see the path that your feet
will never travel again.
Wayfarer, there is no way –
Only foam trails to the sea.

9. Hands

       by Jherine N. Saine

I haven’t forgotten
That I am just one person,
That I am but one voice
Attempting to stand out
From the crowd.

I remember
That I have fallen
Amidst the laughter
That surrounds me, and that sometimes
It gets too loud.

I know
That I can’t sit here
And expect my silence
To evoke change
Without reason.

I can see
That I don’t know everything,
That I can’t expect
My hand to be held
Always.

I can feel
That time is slipping
By me, that it
Will be gone if I just
Stand still.

I have heard
That there are a million
Other voices that sound
Like mine, that want also
To be heard.

I’ve been told
That it’s not enough to
Wish for dreams, that I
Have to work them
Into reality.

I know that I don’t know
All that I think I know.
I know I won’t see all of
The places I wish to go.
I know I’m not ready
For all that the world demands,
You don’t have to always hold me;
Just let me see your hands.

I know
There’s a lot
That I won’t understand,
That you don’t have all
Of the answers.

I haven’t forgotten
That I have to grow up
And someday live without
Your voice, your opinion–
Making my own decisions.

I know that I don’t know
All that I think I know.
I know that I may not see all
Of the places I want to someday go.
I know I’m not ready for everything
That I won’t always understand.
You don’t have to always hold me,
But sometimes. . .
Just let me touch your
Hand.

10. Butterfly Wings

       by Sabina Laura

We all need
some measure of comfort,
the safety of a cocoon,

But I remind myself
that change is good,
that I cannot spend
my whole life
being a caterpillar,

that courage
wears butterfly wings
and the sky has never looked
more inviting.

11. Who Am I?

       by Miranda S

Who am I?
What is the real reason to why I cry?
I’m having trouble opening up

My mind is at a loss
I don’t move, so I’m getting covered in moss
But it doesn’t grow the right way
I thought it was supposed to show you the way

I just want to get home
Where I can be alone
I’m sick of feeling closed in
I’m not an animal you can put in a pin

I need to be free
So I can see all I can see
I don’t want to be locked up

I want to come to my senses
I remember everything he mentions
Yet I don’t know me
That’s who I can’t see

It seems so simple
But that can’t be
‘Cause if is was so
I’d know where to go

I don’t know who to go to
I need to talk it through
But they can’t know me
And they can’t see

I can’t find them
How can this be

Funny Poems about Change

Interesting poems about change provide a light-hearted take on life’s challenges, making us laugh and helping us to deal with difficult situations.

1. Mischief

       by Jan Allison

I’m straying away from the norm

It’s stressing me out to conform

A fave form I must adjust –

The last line’s bitten the dust!

Sweet Nina is causing mischief

I’m sobbing, she’s causing me grief

Limerick’s are divine –

This one’s missing a line!

My chosen form now has mutated

It’s modern, the old ones outdated

Will my new form catch on

Now the last line has gone!

2. 21st Century Re-Write of Humpty Dumpty

       by Jan Allison

Humpty Dumpty fell off the top of the wall
He got on the phone and gave his lawyer a call
with help from the lawyer and litigation men
Humpty is rich and won’t have to work again!

3. All Change

       by Jan Allison

When Mandy met Randy
Oh boy her legs went bandy

She began to walk like John Wayne …
Looked like she was in a lot of pain

But Mandy had a huge smile on her face
And her nights with Randy kept that smile in place

They have the most incredible sex life –
Randy has stopped sleeping with his wife

Randy’s wife her name is Brandy
Met Mandy’s hubby his name is Sandy

So Mandy and Randy and Brandy and Sandy
Have done a partner swap, oh isn’t that handy!

4. Why Caterpillars Do Not Wear Shoes

       by Susan Jeavons

I watched a little caterpillar
walking up a tree
and wondered how
that worm would look
if he were dressed like me.
I think his mother would complain
if she had shoes to buy,
cause by the time she tied them all
he’d be a butterfly!

5. Sex Change

       by Jan Allison

Folks know me as ‘poetry Jan’
But soupers I once was a man …
In a very long op
My male bits got the chop
And I altered my name from Stan!

Happy April Fools Day Soupers!!!!

6. True Blue Music Lovers

       by Hilo Poet

True Blue Music Lovers

Eyes squeezed, ears held shut,

When the Koto is plucked, and

Kimono girl shrieks in league,

After much sake,

The Zither is fined tuned, and

The Soprano is well dressed.

7. Ready-Set-21

       by John Lawless

Let’s get rid of all the people
starting with the old
no one will suspect
we could be so bold.

We’ll track their every movement
wouldn’t that be neat
then we’ll go and target
the one’s still eating meat.

Convince them they’re all different
inclusion was a bust
and other than the demi-gods
there’s no one you can trust.

By the time they catch on
claim they’re purely woke
they’ll be but the punchline
to this planetary joke.

So, wear your masks, walk your dogs
pick up after them
knowing all would be just fine
if it hadn’t been for H I M

8. The Windmills of Babel

       by Joe Di Mino

Build them wider, taller
let us reach for the sky

when we run out of bird’s
we’ll clip angels on the fly

90,000 lb. sperm whale
wandering, searching for
his misplaced tail…

but elite global outlets will
never fail….only us commoners
stuck in the dark, our vehicles
needing, only one gear~ Park!

9. Fake Words

       by Zamreen Zarook

God have given us mouth,
Not to speak to north and south,
Tongue is given under an oath,
So it’s our duty to protect them both.

Girls chat fake with boys,
Having a notion that the boys are toys,
They often make varied noise,
Thinking to keep a trap on handsome guys.

Boys are also human being,
So it’s not possible being clean,
Things varies in the way they are seen,
So positive thinking will make you keen.

Boys’ minds are pure,
As it is pure bio,
So don’t try to pour vino,
Which will take decades to get cure.

10. Rainbow

       by A.O. Taner

imagine the rainbow being
the dark tunnel
you’ve been stuck in for years

the lighthouse on the horizon,
the beam
that gets brighter as it nears

get soaked in the rain,
feel the sun in your heart,
let go of all your fears.

Short Poems about Change

The message of the transforming power of change is reduced in short poetries about change which serves as a gentle reminder that even the tiniest adjustments can have a big impact.

1. There is a Life-Force Within Your Soul

       by Rumi

There is a life-force within your soul, seek that life.
There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that
mine.
O traveler, if you are in search of That
Don’t look outside, look inside yourself and seek That.

2. Change

       by Mary Love

Count me among 
the weird, the odd, the unruly.
Stare if you must
then kindly step out of the way.
I am here to change the world
and I have a lot to do.

3. When I Rise Up

       by Georgia Douglas Johnson

When I rise up above the earth,
And look down on the things that fetter me,
I beat my wings upon the air,
Or tranquil lie,
Surge after surge of potent strength
Like incense comes to me
When I rise up above the earth
And look down upon the things that fetter me.

4. New Birch Leaf

       by Sarah Chansakar

One
New leaf
On my birch
A fresh start of
Hope

5. The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls

       by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

6. Change by

by Wendy Videlock

Change is the new,
improved
word for god,
lovely enough
to raise a song
or implicate
a sea of wrongs,
mighty enough,
like other gods,
to shelter,
bring together,
and estrange us.
Please, god,
we seem to say,
change us.

7. Begin Something

       by Paul Thomas Berkey

Begin something today –
that carries with
great depth,
feelings of meaning
and love
to echo throughout
your life –
until the end of time.

8. Learning to Let Go

       by Liz Newman

Letting go doesn’t
always look how you think it will.
Sometimes it happens all at once.
Sometimes it’s in phases.
Oftentimes it requires a few tries
and heartfelt goodbyes.
Even when it’s good for you,
letting go is hard on a heart.
But like the changing seasons,
we will learn to change too.
In time, in time,
In time…

9. The Girl I Used to Be

       by Stephanie Bennett-Henry

Try as I may, try as I do,
there are days when I wish
I could go back
to the girl I used to be
and tell her about
all the roads to avoid.
But if I did that
I may not have become
the girl I am now,
and I am too proud of her
to risk taking even one piece
of her journey away.

10. Simpler Times

       by Ayush Sharma

Take me back to those simpler times
When all I sang were nursery rhymes,
When stealing chocolates was my only crime,
When sleep used to come early, at nine,
When my fears were much more sublime,
When I was unaware of society’s paradigm,
When I actually used to mean, “I am fine.”
Please, take me back to those simpler times.

11. Travel On

       by Anonymous

Put the past behind you
Ride brave into the wind
Seize a new adventure
Seek a new life to begin
Hit the road full throttle
Travel where you’ve never been
Don’t focus on the rear-view
Those miles won’t come again
Choose a destination
Where your weary soul can mend
The happiness you seek
May be just around the bend

12. Standing Tall

       by Paul Holmes

I’m always amazed how
You stand so very tall,
How you never give in,
You bend but do not fall.

Your orange flame dances
In a hypnotic display;
The winds of change keep blowing
But right there is where you stay.

You constantly keep shining
Like a beacon, blazing bright;
A light in black darkness
To brighten our long night.

Long Poems about Change

Long poetries about change offer a detailed exploration of the complexities of change, delving into the emotional, spiritual, and psychological aspects of transformation.

1. My World with Love and God

       by Michelle Strattis

Empowering Poem About The Future
My future is coming alive.
All tomorrows will be mine.
It’s just around the corner,
Just a pause in time.

I see into the days ahead
And what I want for me.
I see smiles and happiness,
All the love I want there to be.

A house is not a home
Unless with love it stands,
And I would not be full
Without the love of man.

A yard is just a yard,
But with pretty flowers to grow,
It makes the sight so colorful.
It makes you proud, you know?

And alone we cannot be,
For two together as one
Is what God wanted, you see.
Hand in hand with love.

So come with me to my world.
It’s a world of goodness and care.
Come with me, I’ll take you.
Never hurt, only love, will be there.

2. The Mentor

       by Jeff Bresee

Overcoming the Fear of Choosing the Right Path
I paused to stand and watch a man who had come to the road’s divide.
My wonder soared as I watched his stare slowly shift from side to side.
He stood as if not noticing that many passed him by.
They moved without a second glance down the road most traveled by.

Then as I watched, he stepped full stride toward the path of lesser wear,
And soon he vanished from my view round a bend into the snare.
I soon, like him, stood center road, faced with that daunting choice.
My gaze down his road, causing fear, I quenched my inner voice.

For miles I walked the crowded road breathing dust from others’ feet,
Until in despair I stopped and stood, my heart and soul deplete.
I gazed about, still holding hope, the other path I’d see.
On yonder hill I saw him there, the man who mentored me.

The path between us steep and rough, unforged with dangers there,
Yet still I left my path of friends, ignoring their bewares.
I pressed through hardship, pain and fear o’er rocks jagged and bent.
In time I crashed limp on that path, my every resource spent.

But then a warming touch I felt, a friendly voice I heard.
It said, get up and tread this path. I rose without a word.
And as I looked, I saw him there, he continued on his way.
His only words as he walked on…”You’re on the path, now stay.”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I chose in err.
But looking back, perhaps as well…all memories now seem fair.
Much time I spent on the beaten path, and what I learned, immense.
But I reached, at last, the other path, and it has still made all of the difference.

3. Can’t

       by Edgar A. Guest

Can’t is the worst word that’s written or spoken;
Doing more harm here than slander and lies;
On it is many a strong spirit broken,
And with it many a good purpose dies.
It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning
And robs us of courage we need through the day:
It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning
And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

Can’t is the father of feeble endeavor,
The parent of terror and half-hearted work;
It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,
And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.
It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,
It stifles in infancy many a plan;
It greets honest toiling with open derision
And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.

Can’t is a word none should speak without blushing;
To utter it should be a symbol of shame;
Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;
It blights a man’s purpose and shortens his aim.
Despise it with all of your hatred of error;
Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;
Arm against it as a creature of terror,
And all that you dream of you some day shall gain.

Can’t is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the man with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
Hate it, with hatred that’s deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed ’twill break any man;
Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
And answer this demon by saying: “I can.”

4. All the World’s A Stage

       by William Shakespeare

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

5. New Year

       by Sandra Hearth

Hope For A New Year
Another year is coming to a close.
We can forget our troubles and woes.

For me, this year was tough.
It brought many emotions, was tearful and rough.

Now another year is approaching fast.
Let’s hope it’s a New Year with love and health; let’s hope it’s a blast.

May all of your dreams come true
And you find peace and love in all that you do.

May this world know the gentle sound of a hush.
May it calm all its anger and slow its pace from the rush.

May we all hear the sound of joy
And push away all that hurts, all that destroys.

The New Year I hope will be good to us all.
Care and calm, a helping hand when we fall.

Listen more, slow down, and say I love you.
Stop for a moment; take a breath, take in the view.

Appreciate your family; tell them you care.
Do something exciting, a thrill or a dare.

Enjoy all that the New Year may give.
We have but one life, so let’s learn to live.

It’s a New Year, a brand new start.
Always remember, live and love from your heart.

Wishing each and every one a year to behold,
And may it be full of wonders for you to unfold.

Love, hugs, and kisses too…
A very happy New Year from me to you.

6. Destined to Fly

       by Ashley Hyder

I remember the day we met.
Too young to see the danger.
I didn’t know the devil you were,
That you’d fill me with so much anger.

At first you gave me comfort,
Numbed me from the pain,
But the light you gave me faded,
Brought blackness to my veins.

Your trap worked as always.
I am not the only one to fall.
So many friends forever gone now;
No one’s left to call.

Dragged me to rock bottom,
Each day a life in hell anew,
Felt there was no possibility
Of breaking this dependence on you.

Every day I woke
With only you on my mind,
Desperate for your love,
More desperate for you to die.

Through time I saw you were evil.
I watched you steal my soul.
Each time I tried to get away,
You would not let me go.

Tried to scream and cry,
Eventually accepted my fate.
Everyone had tried to warn me,
And now it was too late.

Family and friends could never understand,
Couldn’t hear my silent plea.
They did not want to see
The sick effect you had on me.

You locked me in a cell.
You made me freeze at night,
Made me deceive those I loved,
Made me live in constant fright.

Left broken, battered, and bruised,
My number of scars grew.
Both physical and mental,
While the number of wasted years flew.

Went through the motions like a zombie.
No longer did I see
Any type of future
In this world for me.

You erased any shred of hope
When everyone turned their backs.
Difficult to escape this dark hole and cope,
Impossible to defend against your attacks.

I knew no church, no God.
You, my ultimate power.
No way to know real love.
I was now a rotted, dead flower.

Then one day it happened.
Most amazing hope one moment brings,
And I decided then and there
That I would grow my wings.

No longer will you take from me
Like you have stolen all these years.
You will never take my life.
No longer will I cry these tears.

I will deal with the pain.
I will swallow all my pride.
I will deal with my life of rubble.
I’m prepared for this difficult ride.

If it kills me to leave you,
Then I will gladly die,
Because with you I’m only surviving,
And I have been destined to fly.

I will soar, laugh, and smile,
Will breathe my life once more.
I will go back to a time
Before you came knocking at my door.

7. Starting Over

       by Tatum

I’m trying to find something to base my life upon,
Something in this strange world that goes on and on.
As the years go by and time fades away,
What used to be “good days” are now filled with dismay.
Tomorrow comes, and then again it goes,
And my ambition to become something more grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
The life I want now gets closer each day.
All I’ve ever wanted was something to live for.
I don’t want to be this little person anymore.
I’ve been basing my life upon what others think.
I wish I could go back and redo everything, every time an eye would blink.
I’ve fought to become who I am and what I want to be.
I have to remind myself that one day I will be free,
Free from the rules I followed as a child,
When everything was a game and life was so mild.
Now times have changed and I realize nothing is fair,
And sometimes it seems like nobody even cares.
It’s like no one pays attention to what I feel is best for me
And what I think about the way some things should be.
I understand now that I’m pretty much on my own,
And I know a lot of what I can do will never be known.
All the time I think about everything I can’t say, what I have to keep in,
And by doing this, my thoughts only get more complicated and deepen.
Soon I hope to find out who I am and what I am meant to become.
I want to know where I’m going.
I don’t need to be reminded of where I came from.

8. Time

       by Ebony Black

Time is endless but goes too fast.
You long for the future, then yearn for the past.
Summer’s heat quickly turns to frost,
A child grows, their innocence lost.

Time forever slips away,
With the setting sun and each dawn of a day.
The blossoms give way to falling leaves,
Another life taken; their family grieves.

Time can pass quickly, there’s never enough.
You miss when it was easy; now life is too tough.
The long hot days yield to the winter chill,
A new life begins, while another stops still.

Time is something you can never gain,
It only passes and brings new pain.
A warm spring shower turns to freezing snow,
People enter your life, only to leave you and go.

Time reminds you of all that you’ve lost,
You try and regain it, but there’s always a cost.
The warmth of the sun bows down to the cold,
A person once young, now frail and old.

Time is wasted every day,
Spent on moments that fade away.
So think carefully, think wisely about what you will do
With the limited time that is given to you.

9. Sea of Change

       by Douglas J. Olson

The clouds never break
Like blue waters do
On this Island of Pain.
How can I stand true?

The birds never sing
And the love never finds
This Island of Pain
Where the sun never shines.

The stars never gleam
And the moon never glows.
There’s never a dream,
And the river that flows

Is filled with my tears
That lead to the Bay
Of this Island of Pain
Where I’m destined to stay.

There, in the distance,
The fog starts to rise,
As I awaken
To warm, sunny skies.

No longer a captive
So long lost at sea,
This Island of Hope
Appears before me.

The Sea of Serenity
Waves at the shore.
Of this Island of Hope,
I just can’t ignore.

The birds always sing
And the love always finds
This Island of Hope
Where the sun always shines.

The stars always gleam
And the moon always glows.
There’s never a tear
And the soft wind that blows

Is filled with my dreams
That lead to the shore
Of this Island of Hope
Where I’ll live evermore.

10. Rainy Days When I Was Young

        by Patricia A Fleming

Growing Up And Learning About Life
When I was young on rainy days,
Alone on my front porch I’d play.
I’d lose myself in another time
That I could create with my toys and my mind.

Tomorrow never mattered to me,
For that was where I would always be.
There would be no hurt, no pain, no tears,
There were no worries; there was nothing to fear.

But as I grew up and everything changed,
I realized that life was no easy game.
You lived by the rules that the outside world made,
And that feeling of safety would ultimately fade.

You walked a fine line as you faced every day,
Filled with constant surprises as you went on your way.
And your life could change in the blink of an eye,
And failure could come no matter how hard you tried.

You would fight many battles, as you tarried along.
Sometimes you’d be right, but more times you’d be wrong.
So many people you’d love and you’d hate,
But you had to keep going because life wouldn’t wait.

And lost in that mess that you’d make every day
And behind all those senseless and stupid mistakes
Would be moments so splendid, so perfect and fine,
You would wish that they all could be frozen in time.

Cherished moments with family, the fulfillment of dreams,
Those brief special moments, and the boring routines.
The excitement of learning just who you could be,
And finding that happiness was not guaranteed.

Discovering, with relief, your niche in this world,
Achieving so much but still wanting more.
Through births and some losses, you’d survive on just hope,
Always searching for ways to escape and to cope.

And then there’d be love to nourish your heart,
And sadness and tears when that love fell apart.
You would go through the stages of life as they came.
You would grow up and grow old and constantly change.

You’d see beautiful things in this exceptional world,
The wonder and power of nature unfurled.
You would witness the kindness of our own human race.
But also the destruction and chaos we make.

Indeed as a child I had no real clue
About what was coming and what I’d go through.
And although I do miss that innocent peace,
I treasure each moment that brought me to me.

But still when it’s dark and rainy sometimes,
My cozy front porch will come gently to mind.
And I’ll long for a chance to just steal away
And curl up on that porch with my toys and just play.

11. Long Enough

       by Curtiss L. Hayes

I’ve been black long enough.

Long enough to know about the middle passage
Men, women, children, regardless of age
Stuffed in a ship, like animals in a cage

Long enough to know about slavery
And the white man’s feeling of mastery
Causing human beings a lifetime of misery

Long enough to know about Jim Crow
The unjust laws, instituted, blow after blow
Crushing the spirit of those they refused to know

Long enough to know about lynchings
The ‘strange fruit’ hanging from trees
After enduring a myriad of indignities

I’ve been black long enough.

Long enough to see separate but ‘un’equal classrooms
Schools with computers, others with, maybe, brooms
Leading inevitably to unequal boardrooms

Long enough to see the Civil Rights movement
Its effect on America barely a dent
Many courageous freedom fighters came and went

Long enough to see housing inequality
Driving past neighborhoods with no diversity
Wondering will we ever have inclusivity

Long enough to see the police forget
Those they are sworn to serve and protect
Instead they put a knee on their neck

I’ve been black long enough

Long enough to experience racial discrimination
I have felt it on more than one occasion
One time as a child on a family vacation

I was ten when I jumped into the motel pool
The white folks scattered; (was I made of stool?)
And glared at me as if I was the fool

Or when our family moved into a neighborhood
Only to watch signs pop up on placard and wood
‘For Sale’ signs to get the hell out of the hood

The confederate flag flew at my oldest son’s school
So what are concerned parents to do?
We dialogued a resolution until all parties were cool

I’ve been black long enough.

Hopeful or hopeless? Probably more of the latter
POTUS can’t even say the words ‘Black Lives Matter’
To some I may sound like a man full of blather

I’m not, it’s just that I’ve been black long enough
To know that enough is enough.

12. Butterfly

       by Crystal R. Kordell

I was sitting on the bench in the park one day,
And saw a butterfly coming my way.
I opened my hand, and to my surprise,
the butterfly landed; consumed in cries.
I asked the little one, “What is wrong?”
and then the little one began to sing me a song,
“The sky is dark and my days are grey,
and there’s nobody here to lift the clouds away.”
I sat there quietly for a moment or two
and then I had decided what to do.
I looked at that butterfly that was consumed in cries,
and told her promptly, “I tell no lies.
Your skies are dark and days are grey
because you have no love to light your way.”
The butterfly finally stopped her crying,
opened her wings and went off flying,
I sat on that bench until it was dark,
and then I finally left the park.
day after day had long since passed,
I thought I’d seen that butterfly for the last,
and then on a nice and sunny day,
I heard a little voice say to me, “Hey.”
I turned around, and to my surprise,
there she was with her 3 little butterflies.
I stared in awe as she spoke to me.
She said to me, “You’ve set me free,
you’ve lifted the dark from the skies,
and now I see no grey through my eyes,
I want to thank you for all you’ve done,
and to let you know that you’re our number 1.”
And after that she flew away,
and I haven’t seen her since that day,
but now that I know her troubles are done,
I continue walk in the warm summer sun.

Poems about Change That Rhyme

Rhyming poems about change offer a musical quality that helps us to remember their message, making them a great tool for personal growth and development.

1. Nothing Gold Can Stay

       by Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

2. Change

       by Appleton Oaksmith

My lady-love so cold has grown
I cannot meet her eye
But that my heart sinks like a stone,
And I but wish to die.
There was a time when her dear glance
Was warmer than the sun;
But now my love hath little chance
For hope to dwell upon.
“Why hath she changed?” I ask the winds
Which pass me kindly by;
But each dead leaf the cause reminds,
And all things make reply.
I wander in the woods at eve,
And watch the dead leaves fall,
And chide myself that I should grieve
For what doth come to all.
“Change, change,” is written everywhere
Upon the earth and sky;
We breathe it with life’s morning air,
We live it when we die.
Then wherefore should I grieve that she
Acteth so well her part,
Since greater change can never be
Than in a woman’s heart!

3. Old Fashioned

       by Emily Dickinson

Arcturus is his other name,
I’d rather call him star!
It’s so unkind of science
To go and interfere!

I pull a flower from the woods,
A monster with a glass
Computes the stamens in a breath,
And has her in a class.

Whereas I took the butterfly
Aforetime in my hat,
He sits erect in cabinets,
The clover-bells forgot.

What once was heaven, is zenith now.
Where I proposed to go
When time’s brief masquerade was done,
Is mapped, and charted too!

What if the poles should frisk about
And stand upon their heads!
I hope I ‘m ready for the worst,
Whatever prank betides!

Perhaps the kingdom of Heaven ‘s changed!
I hope the children there
Won’t be new-fashioned when I come,
And laugh at me, and stare!

I hope the father in the skies
Will lift his little girl, —
Old-fashioned, naughty, everything, —
Over the stile of pearl!

4. The Iron Horse

       by Anonymous

The iron horse is coming sure,
Our plodding days will soon be o’er:
The engineer has gone before,
To mark the way and make it sure,
Chorus: The iron horse is coming sure,
Our plodding days will soon be o’er.

With hoofs of steel, and iron-bound,
He’s coming sure to Middletown;
There’s work around for evermore
And feed enough for him in store.
If business fly, or pleasure hie,
Alike his best endeavors try;
If pressed with heavy loads, or light,
He moves along in brave delight.
To better markets swiftly bear
Our noble products, rich and fair;
Along the track he’ll bring us back,
The many precious things we lack.
Now “Van” may “Winkle” in his bed
And dormant lie, appearing dead;
The fogy croak and shake his head,
And tell us what grand-daddy said.
The days of steam are drawing nigh,
Our trudging days are passing by,
The iron horse is coming through,
His freighted train will soon be due.
The iron horse is all the talk;
We should not cease or make a balk,
But help along with friendly ties,
This great and public enterprise.
He’ll never come, the iron horse,
Unless we shall his way endorse;
Unless we take sufficient stock,
He’ll far away our wishes mock.
Chorus: The iron horse is halting now,
And we are trudging, trudging how.

5. The Change Has Come

       by Laurence Dunbar

The change has come, and Helen sleeps—
Not sleeps; but wakes to greater deeps
Of wisdom, glory, truth, and light,
Than ever blessed her seeking sight,
In this low, long, lethargic night,
Worn out with strife
Which men call life.
The change has come, and who would say
“I would it were not come to-day”?
What were the respite till to-morrow?
Postponement of a certain sorrow,
From which each passing day would borrow!
Let grief be dumb,
The change has come.

6. Forty Years Ago

       by Anonymous

I’ve wandered to the village, Tom,
I’ve sat beneath the tree,
Upon the schoolhouse playground,
That sheltered you and me;
But none were left to greet me, Tom,
And few were left to know,
Who played with me upon the green,
Just forty years ago.
The grass was just as green, Tom,
Barefooted boys at play
Were sporting, just as we did then,
With spirits just as gay.
But the master sleeps upon the hill,
Which, coated o’er with snow,
Afforded us a sliding place,
Some forty years ago.
The old schoolhouse is altered some;
The benches are replaced
By new ones very like the same
Our jackknives had defaced.
But the same old bricks are in the wall,
The bell swings to and fro;
Its music’s just the same, dear Tom,
‘T was forty years ago.
The spring that bubbled ‘neath the hill,
Close by the spreading beech,
Is very low; ‘t was once so high
That we could almost reach;
And kneeling down to take a drink,
Dear Tom, I started so,
To think how very much I’ve changed
Since forty years ago.
Near by that spring, upon an elm,
You know, I cut your name,
Your sweetheart’s just beneath it, Tom;
And you did mine the same.
Some heartless wretch has peeled the bark;
‘T was dying sure, but slow,
Just as that one whose name you cut
Died forty years ago.
My lids have long been dry, Tom,
But tears came in my eyes:
I thought of her I loved so well,
Those early broken ties.
I visited the old churchyard,
And took some flowers to strew
Upon the graves of those we loved
Just forty years ago.
Some are in the churchyard laid,
Some sleep beneath the sea;
And none are left of our old class
Excepting you and me.
And when our time shall come, Tom,
And we are called to go,
I hope we’ll meet with those we loved
Some forty years ago.

7. Life Sculpture

       by George Washington Doane

Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy
With his marble block before him,
And his eyes lit up with a smile of joy,
As an angel-dream passed o’er him.
He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;
With heaven’s own flight the sculpture shone,—
He’d caught that angel-vision.
Children of life are we, as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God’s command,
Our life-dream shall pass o’er us.
If we carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own,—
Our lives, that angel-vision.

8. A Contrast

       by Thomas Durfee

Once, in an old and lonely
Farm-house by the sea,
I went to rest with only
Myself for company.
No star the darkness brightened;
Alow the welkin bowed;
It blew, it rained, it lightened,
It thundered long and loud.
The tempest drove the billows
Upon the rocky shore,
And, nestled in my pillows,
I heard them plunge and roar.
The windows creaked and rattled,
The chimney puffed and moaned,
The stout old elms, that battled
Out in the court-yard, groaned.
I dozed while yet I listened;
And lo! the next I knew,
The golden sunshine glistened,
And everything was new.
The cock was crowing clearly,
Cluck-clucked the happy hen,
The robin carolled cheerly,
And sweetly chirped the wren.
I rose with glad emotion
And up the window threw;
Before me heaved the ocean
Its sparkling waters blue.
The skies were soft and tender;
And lovely to be seen.
Impearled with dewy splendor,
The land lay fresh and green.
I breathed an air Elysian;
I thrilled with pure delight;
And nothing but a vision
Seemed that black yester-night.

9. The Year Outgrows the Spring

       by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The year outgrows the spring it thought so sweet
And clasps the summer with a new delight,
Yet wearied, leaves her languors and her heat
When cool-browed autumn dawns upon his sight.
The tree outgrows the bud’s suggestive grace
And feels new pride in blossoms fully blown.
But even this to deeper joy gives place
When bending boughs ‘neath blushing burdens groan.
Life’s rarest moments are derived from change.
The heart outgrows old happiness, old grief,
And suns itself in feelings new and strange.
The most enduring pleasure is but brief.
Our tastes, our needs, are never twice the same.
Nothing contents us long, however dear.
The spirit in us, like the grosser frame,
Outgrows the garments which it wore last year.
Change is the watchword of Progression. When
We tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new.
This restless craving in the souls of men
Spurs them to climb, and seek the mountain view.
So let who will erect an altar shrine
To meek-browed Constancy, and sing her praise.
Unto enlivening Change I shall build mine,
Who lends new zest, and interest to my days.

10. New and Old

       by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Not quite the same the springtime seems to me,
Since that sad season when in separate ways
Our paths diverged. There are no more such days
As dawned for us in that lost time when we
Dwelt in the realm of dreams, illusive dreams;
Spring may be just as fair now, but it seems
Not quite the same.
Not quite the same is life, since we two parted,
Knowing it best to go our ways alone.
Fair measures of success we both have known,
And pleasant hours, and yet something departed
Which gold, nor fame, nor anything we win
Can all replace. And either life has been
Not quite the same.
Love is not quite the same, although each heart
Has formed new ties, that are both sweet and true;
But that wild rapture, which of old we knew,
Seems to have been a something set apart
With that lost dream. There is no passion, now,
Mixed with this later love, which seems, somehow,
Not quite the same.
Not quite the same am I. My inner being
Reasons and knows that all is for the best.
Yet vague regrets stir always in my breast,
As my soul’s eyes turn sadly backward, seeing
The vanished self that evermore must be,
This side of what we call eternity,
Not quite the same.

11. Perfectness

       by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

All perfect things are saddening in effect.
The autumn wood robed in its scarlet clothes,
The matchless tinting on the royal rose
Whose velvet leaf by no least flaw is flecked.
Love’s supreme moment, when the soul unchecked
Soars high as heaven, and its best rapture knows,
These hold a deeper pathos than our woes,
Since they leave nothing better to expect.
Resistless change, when powerless to improve,
Can only mar. The gold will pale to gray—
No thing remains tomorrow as today, —
The rose will not seem quite so fair, and love
Must find its measures of delight made less.
Ah, how imperfect is all Perfectness!

12. His Other Chance

       by Edgar A. Guest

He was down and out, and his pluck was gone,
And he said to me in a gloomy way:
“I’ve wasted my chances, one by one,
And I’m just no good, as the people say.
Nothing ahead, and my dreams all dust,
Though once there was something I might have been,
But I wasn’t game, and I broke my trust,
And I wasn’t straight and I wasn’t clean.”
“You’re pretty low down,” says I to him,
“But nobody’s holding you there, my friend.
Life is a stream where men sink or swim,
And the drifters come to a sorry end;
But there’s two of you living and breathing still—
The fellow you are, and he’s tough to see,
And another chap, if you’ve got the will,
The man that you still have a chance to be.”
He laughed with scorn. “Is there two of me?
I thought I’d murdered the other one.
I once knew a chap that I hoped to be,
And he was decent, but now he’s gone.”
“Well,” says I, “it may seem to you
That life has little of joy in store,
But there’s always something you still can do,
And there’s never a man but can try once more.

Poems about Change for Children

Poems about change for kids provide a gentle introduction to the idea of transformation, helping them to navigate the ups and downs of life.

1. Aim High to the Sky

       by James Mcdonald

Aim high to the sky,
In all that you do.
Because you just never know,
What it takes to be you.

Be strong and be brave,
But at the same time be kind.
And always be sure,
That you’re using your mind.

2. If You Can’t Go Over or Under, Go Around

       by Joseph Morris

A baby mole got to feeling big,
And wanted to show how he could dig;
So he plowed along in the soft, warm dirt
Till he hit something hard, and it surely hurt!

A dozen stars flew out of his snout;
He sat on his haunches, began to pout;
Then rammed the thing again with his head–
His grandpap picked him up half dead.


“Young man,” he said, “though your pate is bone.
You can’t butt your way through solid stone.
This bit of advice is good, I’ve found:
If you can’t go over or under, go round.”

A traveler came to a stream one day,
And because it presumed to cross his way,
And wouldn’t turn round to suit his whim
And change its course to go with him,

His anger rose far more than it should,
And he vowed he’d cross right where he stood.
A man said there was a bridge below,
But not a step would he budge or go.

The current was swift and the bank was steep,
But he jumped right in with a violent leap.
A fisherman dragged him out half-drowned:
“When you can’t go over or under, go round.”


If you come to a place that you can’t get _through,_
Or _over_ or _under_, the thing to do
Is to find a way _round_ the impassable wall,
Not say you’ll go YOUR way or not at all.

You can always get to the place you’re going,
If you’ll set your sails as the wind is blowing.
If the mountains are high, go round the valley;
If the streets are blocked, go up some alley;

If the parlor-car’s filled, don’t scorn a freight;
If the front door’s closed, go in the side gate.
To reach your goal this advice is sound:
If you can’t go over or under, go round!

3. Portia’s Speech

       by William Shakespeare

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:

‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest” it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The atrribute to awe and majesty,


Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.

4. Evolution

       by John Banister Tabb

Out of the dusk a shadow,
Then, a spark;
Out of the cloud a silence,
Then, a lark;

Out of the heart a rapture,
Then, a pain;
Out of the dead, cold ashes,
Life again.

5. Then Laugh

       by Bertha Adams Backus

Build for yourself a strong box,
Fashion each part with care;
When it’s strong as your hand can make it,
Put all your troubles there;

Hide there all thought of your failures,
And each bitter cup that you quaff;
Lock all your heartaches within it,
Then sit on the lid and laugh.

6. Mini Pocket

       by Anonymous

A new adventure is about to begin

perhaps you feel a mixture of things.

Excitement, uncertainty, joy or fear

remember your friends and family are here.

Change can feel scary, that feeling’s ok.

Take it step by step and day by day.

Hold on to the power you hold inside,

follow your heart and open your mind.

Poems about Change in Life

Life-changing poems in life remind us that change is inevitable and that we have the power to transform our lives, no matter how difficult or challenging the circumstances may be.

1. What Life Should Be

       by Pat A. Fleming

To learn while still a child
What this life is meant to be.
To know it goes beyond myself,
It’s so much more than me.
To overcome the tragedies,
To survive the hardest times.
To face those moments filled with pain,
And still, manage to be kind.
To fight for those who can’t themselves,
To always share my light.
With those who wander in the dark,
To love with all my might.
To still stand up with courage,
Though standing on my own.
To still get up and face each day,
Even when I feel alone.
To try to understand the ones
That no one cares to know.
And make them feel some value
When the world has let them go.
To be an anchor, strong and true,
That person loyal to the end.
To be a constant source of hope
To my family and my friends.
To live a life of decency,
To share my heart and soul.
To always say I’m sorry
When I’ve harmed both friend and foe.
To be proud of whom I’ve tried to be,
And this life I chose to live.
To make the most of every day
By giving all I have to give.
To me, that’s what this life should be,
To me, that’s what it’s for.
To take what God has given me
And make it so much more
To live a life that matters,
To be someone of great worth.
To love and be loved in return
And make my mark on Earth.

2. If

       by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream — and not make dreams your master;

If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!

3. The Road Not Taken

       by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves, no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

4. A Psalm of Life

       by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Act! Take Action! Be Active!

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, however pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, — act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

5. Still I Rise

       by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still, I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

6. The Guest House

       by Jelaluddin Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

7. Hope’ is the Thing with Feathers

       by Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops — at all –

And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet — never — in Extremity,
It asked a crumb — of me.

8. Annabel Lee

       by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love —

I and my Annabel Lee —

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulcher

In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me —

Yes! — that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we —

Of many far wiser than we —

And neither the angels in Heaven above

Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling — my darling — my life and my bride,

In her sepulcher there by the sea —

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

9. Out, Out

       by Robert Frost

The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard

And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,

Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.

And from there those that lifted eyes could count

Five mountain ranges one behind the other

Under the sunset far into Vermont.

And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,

As it ran light or had to bear a load.

And nothing happened: the day was all but done.

Call it a day, I wish they might have said

To please the boy by giving him the half-hour

That a boy counts so much when saved from work.

His sister stood beside him in her apron

To tell them ‘Supper.’ At the word, the saw,

As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,

Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap —

He must have given the hand. However, it was,

Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!

The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,

As he swung toward them holding up the hand

Half in appeal, but half as if to keep

The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all —

Since he was old enough to know, big boy

Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart —

He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off —

The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’

So. But the hand was gone already.

The doctor put him in the dark of ether.

He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.

And then — the watcher at his pulse took fright.

No one believed. They listened at his heart.

Little — less — nothing! — and that ended it.

No more to build on there. And they, since they

Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.

Poems about Change and New Beginnings

Poems about change and new beginnings offer hope and inspiration, reminding us that every ending brings with it the opportunity for a new beginning.

1. For a New Beginning

       by John O’Donahue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

2. New Life, New Love

       by Henry Lawson

The breezes blow on the river below,
And the fleecy clouds float high,
And I mark how the dark green gum trees match
The bright blue dome of the sky.
The rain has been, and the grass is green
Where the slopes were bare and brown,
And I see the things that I used to see
In the days ere my head went down.
I have found a light in my long dark night,
Brighter than stars or moon;
I have lost the fear of the sunset drear,
And the sadness of afternoon.
Here let us stand while I hold your hand,
Where the light’s on your golden head —
Oh! I feel the thrill that I used to feel
In the days ere my heart was dead.
The storm’s gone by, but my lips are dry
And the old wrong rankles yet —
Sweetheart or wife, I must take new life
From your red lips warm and wet!
So let it be, you may cling to me,
There is nothing on earth to dread,
For I’ll be the man that I used to be
In the days ere my heart was dead!

3. Burning the Old Year

       by Naomi Shihab Nye

Letters swallow themselves in seconds.
Notes friends tied to the doorknob,
transparent scarlet paper,
sizzle like moth wings,
marry the air.
So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.
Where there was something and suddenly isn’t,
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers.
Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,
only the things I didn’t do   
crackle after the blazing dies.

4. Starting Over

       by David Harris

Within every life there comes a time
when you need to take a break,
to start something new.
A point at when your life seems stale
and starting over is the only thing to do.
Not everyone wants to do it,
in fact most refuse to try.
They idle away each day,
not realising they need to do something new.
The world passes by them
as they stand at the garden gate
and before they know it
starting over for them is too late.
Therefore, if you need to get out of a rut
before it is too late,
start looking for something new
to enhance your life with beauty,
which you have forgotten what it was like.
Starting over can make you a new person,
sometimes even better than before.

5. Morning on Shinnecock

       by Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

The rising sun had crowned the hills,
And added beauty to the plain;
O grand and wondrous spectacle!
That only nature could explain.
I stood within a leafy grove,
And gazed around in blissful awe;
The sky appeared one mass of blue,
That seemed to spread from sea to shore.
Far as the human eye could see,
Were stretched the fields of waving corn.
Soft on my ear the warbling birds
Were heralding the birth of morn.
While here and there a cottage quaint
Seemed to repose in quiet ease
Amid the trees, whose leaflets waved
And fluttered in the passing breeze.
O morning hour! so dear thy joy,
And how I longed for thee to last;
But e’en thy fading into day
Brought me an echo of the past.
‘Twas this,—how fair my life began;
How pleasant was its hour of dawn;
But, merging into sorrow’s day,
Then beauty faded with the morn.

6. The New Love

       by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I thought my heart was death chilled,
I thought its fires were cold;
But the new love, the new love,
It warmeth like the old.
I thought its rooms were shadowed
With the gloom of endless night;
But the new love, the new love,
It fills them full of light.
I thought the chambers empty,
And proclaimed it unto men;
But the new love, the new love,
It peoples them again.
I thought its halls were silent,
And hushed the whole day long;
But the new love, the new love,
It fills them full of song.
Then here is to the new love,
Let who will sing the old;
The new love, the new love,
‘Tis more than fame or gold.
For it gives us joy for sorrow,
And it gives us warmth for cold;
Oh! the new love, the new love,
‘Tis better than the old.

7. The World That Awaits

       by Julie Hebert

The sun is shining,
On this amazing day,
Of new beginnings,
And farewells to say.
Our new road is paved,
With a new path in sight.
It’s time to take it,
It feels quite right.
We will say farewell,
To all we’ve known.
The knowledge we will take with us
And no longer be attending class.
It’s time to explore,
The world that awaits.
Allow yourself to,
Embrace your fate.

8. A Birthday

       by Christina Rossetti

My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a water’d shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these
Because my love is come to me …

9. May Night

       by Sarah Teasdale

The spring is fresh and fearless
And every leaf is new,
The world is brimmed with moonlight,
The lilac brimmed with dew.
Here in the moving shadows
I catch my breath and sing,
My heart is fresh and fearless
And over-brimmed with spring.

10. Your Mission

       by G.M Grannis

If you cannot on the ocean
Sail among the swiftest fleet,
Rocking on the highest billows,
Laughing at the storms you meet;
You can stand among the sailors
Anchored yet within the bay;
You can lend a hand to help them
As they launch their boat away.
If you are too weak to journey
Up the mountain steep and high,
You can stand within the valley
While the multitudes go by;
You can chant in happy measure
As they slowly pass along;
Though they may forget the singer
They will not forget the song.
If you have not gold and silver
Ever ready to command;
If you cannot toward the needy,
Reach an ever-open hand;
You can visit the afflicted,
O’er the erring you can weep;
You can be a true disciple
Sitting at the Saviour’s feet.
If you cannot in the harvest
Garner up the richest sheaves,
Many a grain both ripe and golden
Will the careless reapers leave;
Go and glean among the briers
Growing rank against the wall,
For it may be that their shadow
Hides the heaviest wheat of all.
If you cannot in the conflict
Prove yourself a soldier true,
If where fire and smoke are thickest
There’s no work for you to do;
When the battle-field is silent
You can go with careful tread:
You can bear away the wounded,
You can cover up the dead.
If you cannot be the watchman,
Standing high on Zion’s wall,
Pointing out the path to heaven,
Offering life and peace to all;
With your prayers and with your bounties
You can do what Heaven demands,
You can be like faithful Aaron,
Holding up the prophet’s hands.
Do not, then, stand idly waiting
For some greater work to do;
Fortune is a lazy goddess–
She will never come to you.
Go and toil in any vineyard,
Do not fear to do or dare;
If you want a field of labor
You can find it anywhere.

11. The Beginning

       by Rupert Brooke

Some day I shall rise and leave my friends
And seek you again through the world’s far ends,
You whom I found so fair
(Touch of your hands and smell of your hair!),
My only god in the days that were.
My eager feet shall find you again,
Though the sullen years and the mark of pain
Have changed you wholly; for I shall know
(How could I forget having loved you so?),
In the sad half-light of evening,
The face that was all my sunrising.
So then at the ends of the earth I’ll stand
And hold you fiercely by either hand,
And seeing your age and ashen hair
I’ll curse the thing that once you were,
Because it is changed and pale and old
(Lips that were scarlet, hair that was gold!),
And I loved you before you were old and wise,
When the flame of youth was strong in your eyes,
— And my heart is sick with memories.

12. Morning Song

       by Sylvia Plath

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry   
Took its place among the elements.
Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.
I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind’s hand.
All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.
One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat’s. The window square
Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.

Poems about Change in Society

Poems about social change challenge us to think about the world around us, inspiring us to take action and make a difference in the world.

1. Social Change for The Better!

       by Ramesh T A

Economic developments have created material world…;
Only social development can change it into human one!

Such a social change is possible only by class education
That combines humanities and science to give knowledge
That empowers all to do anything in private and public!

With proper training in the field one is best at one can do
Job better anywhere in the world as a modern world citizen;
That’s possible when all States function as one world nation!

With the creation of World Parliament by making reforms
Over the present United Nations Organization social change
Can be effectively made possible for all to live better in life…!

Human culture based civilization evolved out of advancement of
Knowledge only can help much social change possible in one world
Created by unanimous approval of all world unions in one voice…!

2. This Developed Nation?

       by Anonymous

In this Developed Nation, a 19 year old woman sleeps in a bag in a door way.
In this Developed Nation, a working family of four relies on the local food bank.
In this Developed Nation, grandmothers live on a pittance and die lonely.
In this Developed Nation, my friends use drugs to fill a spiritual chasm.
In this Developed Nation, stateless refugees are kept in cages while processed.
In this Developed Nation, slave labour is abolished, but persists.
In this Developed Nation, the media patronizes and panders to the lowest common denominator.
In this Developed Nation, the unscrupulous employers bulldoze workers rights.
In this Developed Nation, the population is kept divided and ineffective.
In this Developed Nation, ‘I’m not a racist…but…’
In this Developed Nation, black people are stop/searched nine times more than whites.
In this Developed Nation, under four percent of rape reports end in conviction.
In this Developed Nation, seventeen percent of adults take anti-depressants.
In this Developed Nation, suicide is the biggest killer of men under fifty.
In this Developed Nation, children cut themselves to relieve pain.
In this Developed Nation, I’m a snowflake if I care.

What has this Nation Developed into?

3. Late in the Game

       by Roy Pullam

Envy is the boulder
That blocks the road
To contentment
It is the jealousy
That harbors hate
It is the unforgiveness
That looks up and down
Finding no approval
Embracing prejudice
Shuffling the cards
In a way
That deals others out
Defines we and they
So narrowly
So definitely
That stereotypes
Become laws
When even a flood
Of love
Is damned by spite
I learned my bile
With the soak
In the hate sauce
Of the South
But having lived
Through so many rains
Having been washed
By tolerance and education
Having been forgiven
For slights
By better people than me
I have grown
To be ashamed
Of the small person
I was
But still know
There is still
Room to grow

4. Breaking the Mold, Snipping the Wires

       by Holli Homan

As we sit atop the mountain of the privileges we hold,
Coasting through our lives by the colors of our skin,
We live the day to day by carefully fitting into molds,
Our identities are crafted by the powerful akin.

We question all we hear on its exact validity,
If it wasn’t wired similarly it must be simply wrong,
We based all that we knew on our ethnocentricity,
No wonder unlearning oppressive ways takes so very long.

Our defenses come alive when we question all we’ve ever known,
They must be wrong if they question our know-ability,
We’ve never experienced oppression in the entire life we’ve sewn,
On all accounts this process tempts our white fragility.

Yet we fit the preferred molds on so many different planes,
We never before questioned what was held to be true,
Our privileged intersectionality served to influence our gains,
Blinded assimilation is all we ever knew.

That is until we learned how assimilation came to be,
Through cultural and ethnic genocide on this very land,
Our ancestors attempted to force our native brethren to their knee,
Telling them if they aren’t White they aren’t considered Man.

We learn that through our privileged lives we needn’t our own minds,
We regurgitate the rhetoric that flows within our wiring,
Our comfort zones work to place our inner-molds into binds,
Because fighting normative culture can prove to be quite tiring.

So we became complacent in the mold we were given at birth,
Sexism, Racism, Classism, Ageism we saw as extremist myths,
Yet wherever we fit on those spectrums somehow influenced our worth,
They have the power to lower us down or serve as effective lifts.

We’re learning more and more about how our breeding served to be,
A factory-like mode to perpetuate systems of oppression,
Our social consciousness helps us to fine-tune our clarity,
And helps us combat normative culture – of ourselves we gain possession.

Our implicit bias to this day tends to lineate with dominant culture,
We associated non-Christians, Non-whites and the like with stereotypes and stigma.
The more we learn the more we start to clearly see the future,
Social consciousness helps to demystify privilege’s enigma.

The mask that used to bare our face begins to crack and fall,
We see the world through a lens of vivid cynicism,
We see social change moving at the pace of a crawl,
We start to fully understand the meaning of each “ism.”

Where clouds loom over plains that we used to naively see as sunny,
Our entire world flips upside down and we clearly see inequity,
Where power is given to those with substantial sums of money
Despite our social disposition we view Capitalism as a malady.

The settler colonialist structure in which our society is built,
Helps to build the systems of oppression that we see,
It’s unhelpful to be overcome with circumstantial guilt,
Because that only shifts the focal point back from you to me.

So how do we shift the perception that women are property of men?
How do we end the objectification and hyper-sexualization?
Standing with our feminists of color now – though we didn’t then,
We hope solidarity will shift the power and create an equal nation.

How do we end mass-incarceration – which serves as the new Jim Crow?
Where prisons serve to embody the themes of Capitalism and Militarism,
Enslavement still continues despite all the injustices we know,
Resembling practices and procedures found in states of fascism.

How do we work to combat injustices our brethren of color experience?
We must continue to work towards desegregation to create long-needed equity,
We must educate so we can break down the metaphoric fearful-fence
Who knows – racial equality could be our generation’s destiny!

The more questions that we ask the quicker our mask falls to the floor,
The mold we once fit into now is miles out of reach,
As social consciousness rises it’s our choice to walk through the door,
While it’s important that we learn it’s just as crucial that we teach.

As social justice warriors, anti-oppressive we try to be,
At the end of the day all we need to do is try.
So as we learn we start to take accountability,
Then the realization finally comes that “we” is really “I.”

5. I Look at the World

       by Langston Hughes

I look at the world
From awakening eyes in a black face—
And this is what I see:
This fenced-off narrow space   
Assigned to me.

I look then at the silly walls
Through dark eyes in a dark face—
And this is what I know:
That all these walls oppression builds
Will have to go!

I look at my own body   
With eyes no longer blind—
And I see that my own hands can make
The world that’s in my mind.
Then let us hurry, comrades,
The road to find.

Poems about Change and Transition

Poems about transformation offer a roadmap for navigating life’s many transitions, reminding us that change is a natural part of the human experience.

1. No, Time, Thou Shalt Not Boast That I Do Change

       by William Shakespeare

No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
They are but dressings of a former sight.
Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire
What thou dost foist upon us that is old,
And rather make them born to our desire
Than think that we before have heard them told.
Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wondering at the present nor the past;
For thy records and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by that continual haste.
This I do vow, and this shall ever be:
I will be true, despite thy scythe and thee.

2. Change

       by John Donne

ALTHOUGH thy hand and faith, and good works too,
Have sealed thy love which nothing should undo,
Yea, though thou fall back, that apostasy
Confirm thy love, yet much, much I fear thee.
Women are like the arts, forced unto none,
Open to all searchers, unprized, if unknown.
If I have caught a bird, and let him fly,
Another fowler using these means, as I,
May catch the same bird ; and, as these things be,
Women are made for men, not him nor me.
Foxes, and goats—all beasts—change when they please.
Shall women, more hot, wily, wild than these,
Be bound to one man, and did nature then
Idly make them apter to endure than men?
They’re our clogs, not their own ; if a man be
Chain’d to a galley, yet the galley’s free.
Who hath a plough-land, casts all his seed corn there,
And yet allows his ground more corn should bear ;
Though Danuby into the sea must flow,
The sea receives the Rhine, Volga, and Po.
By nature, which gave it, this liberty
Thou lovest, but O ! canst thou love it and me?
Likeness glues love ; and if that thou so do,
To make us like and love, must I change too?
More than thy hate, I hate it ; rather let me
Allow her change, then change as oft as she,
And so not teach, but force my opinion,
To love not any one, nor every one.
To live in one land is captivity,
To run all countries a wild roguery.
Waters stink soon, if in one place they bide,
And in the vast sea are more putrified ;
But when they kiss one bank, and leaving this
Never look back, but the next bank do kiss,
Then are they purest ; change is the nursery
Of music, joy, life and eternity.

3. Why Flowers Change Colour

       by Robert Herrick

These fresh beauties, we can prove,
Once were virgins, sick of love,
Turn’d to flowers: still in some,
Colours go and colours come.

4. Constancy

       by John Wilmot

I cannot change, as others do,
Though you unjustly scorn;
Since that poor swain, that sighs for you
For you alone was born.
No, Phyllis, no, your heart to move
A surer way I’ll try:
And to revenge my slighted love,
Will still love on, will still love on, and die.

When, kill’d with grief, Amyntas lies;
And you to mind shall call
The sighs that now unpitied rise;
The tears that vainly fall:
That welcome hour that ends this smart,
Will then begin your pain;
For such a faithful, tender heart
Can never break, can never break in vain.

5. Change Upon Change

       by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Five months ago the stream did flow,
The lilies bloomed within the sedge,
And we were lingering to and fro,
Where none will track thee in this snow,
Along the stream, beside the hedge.
Ah, Sweet, be free to love and go!
For if I do not hear thy foot,
The frozen river is as mute,
The flowers have dried down to the root:
And why, since these be changed since May,
Shouldst thou change less than they.
And slow, slow as the winter snow
The tears have drifted to mine eyes;
And my poor cheeks, five months ago
Set blushing at thy praises so,
Put paleness on for a disguise.
Ah, Sweet, be free to praise and go!
For if my face is turned too pale,
It was thine oath that first did fail, —
It was thy love proved false and frail, —
And why, since these be changed enow,
Should I change less than thou.

6. Change

        by Ella Wheeler

Changed? Yes I will confess it–I have changed.
I do not love you in the old fond way.
I am your friend still–time has not estranged
One kindly feeling of that vanished day

But the bright glamour which made life a dream,
The rapture of that time, its sweet content,
Like visions of a sleeper’s brain they seem–
And yet I cannot tell you how they went.

Why do you gaze with such accusing eyes
Upon me, dear? Is it so very strange
That hearts, like all things underneath God’s skies,
Should sometimes feel the influence of change?

The birds, the flowers, the foliage of the trees,
The stars which seem so fixed, and so sublime,
Vast continents, and the eternal seas,–
All these do change, with ever-changing time.

The face our mirror shows us year on year
Is not the same; our dearest aim, or need,
Our lightest thought, or feeling, hope, or fear,–
All, all the law of alternation heed.

How can we ask the human heart to stay,
Content with fancies of Youth’s earliest hours?
The year outgrows the violets of May,
Although, maybe, there are no fairer flowers.

And life may hold no sweeter love than this,
Which lies so cold, so voiceless, and so dumb.
And will I miss it, dear? Why yes, we miss
The violets always–till the roses come!

7. Metamorphosis

       by James Richardson

The week after you died, Mom,
you were in my checkout line,
little old lady who met my stare
with the fear, the yearning
of a mortal chosen by a god,
feeling herself change
painfully cell by cell
into a shadow, a laurel, you, a constellation.

Final Thoughts

Poems about change are a powerful tool for personal growth and development.

They remind us that change is inevitable and that we have the power to transform our lives and the world around us.

Whether funny, short, long, or rhyming, these poems on change offer a unique perspective on the challenges we face in life, helping us to find the courage and strength to confront them head-on.

By embracing change, we can learn to let go of the past and move forward with a renewed sense of purpose and hope.

So let us turn to the wisdom of the poets and discover the transformative power of change through their inspiring and thought-provoking poems about change.