After All I Struggle On As I Am Poem by Shalom Freedman

AFTER ALL I STRUGGLE ON AS I AM

After all I struggle on as I am-
I dreamed something different and greater
But I have come to something less than I hoped -
And I have still to go on
When nothing says the ‘transformation’ I long worked for
Will ever come.

Still I pray I will continue in dignity as long as I can
And not fall into disgrace or shame or total helplessness-

But having lived this life
I know I cannot know
What will come
And how to prevent
A bad and prolonged sad and bitter end.