Anything You Want, You Can Be Poem by Angela Bontle Ditumiso

The thing about life is
You cannot reach the crest
Without climbing up
That's what mama always tells me
Anything you want
You have to work for it
Because nothing materializes
Out of thin air

I toss those words to the wind
All the time
But my mind is in chains
Chained by doubt
I can't chase a dream
Without thinking of giving up
I can't think of attaining something
Without imagining an epic fail

It ain't easy being human
Sometimes I give up before a try
I look down on myself
Question if I'm good enough
Hack myself down
Of all the broken pieces of I,
Most are of my doing
It hurts to be be
I can't help but self destruct

So much potential I possess,
But most times I'm blind,
Blinded by down
Can't see a thing
I'm the kind to aim for the moon
Then shoot myself down,
I never mean to
But I always do

Yet I yearn for things
I haven't worked for
I tend to forget that,
If I ain't willing to slave for it
Then I ain't never gonna get it,
What happened to
"If you dream it, you can achieve it"?
I'll ask the mirror the next time
I stand before it