British Council LearnEnglish Central

Page Content   Tools   Themes   Test   Skills   Practice   Fun   Archives   About us
British Council LearnEnglish Central    

learnenglish central poems, image copyright by Paul Millard    

this theme   

families: see an
article, a poem, a cartoon, some trivia and links, and play a word game.   

poems archive   

See previous poems from our archive   

e-newsletter   

Sign up for our newsletter and receive updates about what's happening on this site.   

learn english   

Learn English in your country, in the UK or take an exam   

this theme   

home: see articles, word games, stories, poems, cartoons, trivia and links.   

family poetry

Here is a poem about families sent in by one of our readers.

Double-click on any word and see its definition from Cambridge Dictionaries Online.

After reading the poem, try some writing yourself.

Family

Emptiness is here,
I can feel it all around,
A shallow depth within this soul,
no will to live is found.

Nights are days,
and days are nights,
the hours all blend to one,
Foundations of reality have left me now,
and gone.

Sustained by only instinct,
does my body take each breath,
With shattered hopes and broken dreams,
I die this living death.

My independence absolute,
my worthiness all gone,
I fight to hold reality,
and slowly soldier on.

With all that I can muster,
I seek strength, so hard to find,
What happened to the woman I knew,
who fell so far behind.

So beaten down and trodden,
disillusioned and so frail,
Once more she plays the ending,
in a somber haunting tale.

What things in life have I done wrong,
to suffer in this way,
Each time I stand,
start feeling strong,
my world starts to decay.

Round and round my head spins
as I try to make things clear,
Everything I try to grasp
will always disappear.

Once again I have to search
this heart I have inside,
All that I see left in there,
is foolishness and pride.

How can a little girl go on like this,
what secret goes unseen,
These wounds I bare will never heal,
this conscience never clean.

I close my eyes and inwardly,try hard to understand,
What lessons does life keep from me,
what scheme does fate have planned.

I try to see my future,
but the truth does not pretend,
Someway, soon, somehow, I know
this emptiness will end.

VvwhitetrashvV

Your turn

Write your own poem about a member of your family and send it to us.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland)
Our privacy and copyright statements.
Our Freedom of Information Publications Scheme. Double-click for pop-up dictionary.    Positive About Disabled People   Download Browsealoud    

Home   Central   Kids   Professionals   Teaching English

© British Council
Text Only Options

Top of page


Text Only Options

Open the original version of this page.

Usablenet Assistive is a UsableNet product. Usablenet Assistive Main Page.