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Surrendering the Unknown

Rachel RW Radtke

August 23 
Lyric
Somedays it hits me all over again,
And I feel that familiar pain in my heart.
Although I try to run from reality,
I catch myself slipping back into the dark.

Trying to hide tears behind closed doors,
Since that is what I learned to do.
That’s when sadness comes knocking,
Suddenly it manages to break through.

Denial has kept me safe at times,
But it is not a permanent escape.
I’d rather not disclose any anger,
Yet those words continue to replay.

If only people knew the whole story,
But fear has tried to keep me quiet.
I tried to bury it all inside of me,
Only with God, I have safely confided.

I have struggled to give this to Him,
But now I am too tired and weak.
I surrender from this endless fight,
It is time to “turn the other cheek”.

I do not feel that justice was served,
But I will trust in God’s plan.
It is not something I can change,
Now I know that only He can.

I may not understand this yet,
But I believe He will follow through,
It is no longer worth my energy,
I already did all that I could do.
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Written on January 27, 2023

Submitted by rachel_radtke on August 30, 2023

1:10 min read
63

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXAX XBXB XXXX AXAX XCXC XDXD XBAB
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,032
Words 234
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Full analysis for Surrendering the Unknown »

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1 Comment
  • Vixility
    Vixility
    Jotted down some brief notes as I read through all the August poems. Here were mine on your on yours:

    “A poem wherein the narrator is surrounded by struggles that seem somehow to persist despite efforts to overcome them. The narrator then puts all in the hands of God, surrendering this dilemma into the hands of Providence.”

    I didn’t include this in the note at the time, but the struggle and surrender your poem touches on also reminded me of a quote by François Fénelon: “He [God] causes the ground under us to give way, in order that we may not find any conscious support, either in ourselves or in anyone else.” Meaning, of course, that He desires us to rely entirely upon Him.     
    LikeReply1 year ago
    • Vixility
      Vixility
      I have, if you don’t mind, an unrelated question. Have you ever read any of the works by the American-German poet Theodore Roethke? He was one of the first poets I feel in love with when I began to explore poetry.

      I only ask because your last name looks like it might be linguistically related historically.       
      LikeReply1 year ago

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"Surrendering the Unknown" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Nov. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/168400/surrendering-the-unknown>.

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