Young Writers Society

Text Version:

Who knew that growing older meant you had to fight harder.
I never signed up for this war. No one warned me that
every step forward would feel like crawling through quicksand, that every decision would be a landmine ready to explode beneath my feet.
Who knew that trying to keep it all together would mean watching dreams slip away,
that my journey to make something of myself would turn into a chase I’m too exhausted to finish?

I’m angry at the lies I was told—that adulthood was freedom,
that growing up meant having control. No one told me that freedom would taste like
bitterness, that control would be far, far beyond my own reach.
I’m furious at the world for demanding so much; for making me believe that success is measured by numbers in a bank account.
They sold me a version of life that was never real—dangled it in front of me like a prize.
And of course, I was gullible.

And the world—this world that demands everything from me—gives so little in return.
It chews you up, spits you out, and then has the audacity to ask for more.
More.
More.
More.
And I keep giving, because what other choice do I have?
Life is less about living and more about surviving. I learned that the hard way.

And it hurts— it hurts so bad—to realize that the world doesn’t care about the effort,
about the late nights, the sacrifices, the dreams I’ve buried just to keep going.
Just to keep living. Just to keep existing in this relentless battlefield that grinds us down,
turns us into something unrecognizable, something numb.
They said it would be worth it, that if I just kept pushing,
one day I’d look back and see that all the struggle had meaning.

Maybe I’m destined to fall here.

hello ley!

this poem is such a home run for me. the way you describe becoming older & the burdens tied to it is so stunningly beautiful. i love the constant war references- "landmine ready to explode beneath my feet". stunning.

i also quite liked the way it's formatted. it feels like trying to scream to someone. trying to tell them something that they don't understand. the sheer anger in the second stanza is amazing.

another thing i noted is the way you use em dashes, the way they feel like not a pause but a way to show you're still thinking about the same thing, the same meanings.

if i had to note one thing, i almost wish you'd kept with the war/explosion/things that hurt imagery. i feel like it would tie the first stanza into the poem more.

-epithet

Hey Ley,

I don't know if this was your intention or not but I like the long sentences here. It mirrors how heavy adulthood feels. The pressure to "just persevere" from everyone. I hate when people say "teen years and 20s are the best part of your life", no it's not. Actually it's exhausting. I love the line "It chews you up, spits you out, and then has the audacity to ask for more". Also, the part about quicksand just perfectly encapsulates the adulthood.

What a painfully beautiful poem(T＿T)

i love the thought you put into, this poem is amazing and romance poetry is the best, this shows a more realistic version of romance poetry and shows that the more you grow up the harder romance becomes. thank you for joining the YWS communite and i hope to see more of your works soon! i overall love this poem!