I Survived Poem by Randy McClave

Did you want to see me broken
Then at my condition people would stare,
And they would say that I fell into ruins
Just because, you were not there.

Maybe if I were poor and bankrupt
And I had not achieved and thrived,
But, look at me I have now achieved greatness
And, I have survived.

My house like me is sturdy
No longer do I owe or am I in debt,
I feel rich and I buy whatever that I want
And I have no more worries, or regret.

One time which was not so many years ago
I felt so lonesome and deprived,
You cheated on me and then stole from me
But look at me now, I have survived.

You believed that without you in my life
That I would not or could not exist,
You wanted to laugh at me when I fell
You wanted to give me a razor, for my wrist.

I think of those days of my yesteryear
When in my life you had first arrived,
I gave up all that I had for my love for you
I had nothing left, but I still survived.

No longer do I need to condition myself
For your drunken and verbal attack,
Or no need for me to keep both eyes on you
So, that I won't get knifed in my back

I read and I saw your debauchery
From experiences my belief was derived,
I then found religion and forgiveness
So, I fought and I survived.

I thought once that you were truly a gift to me
So, you used me whenever that you could,
I went to bed nightly and I couldn't sleep
You were the nightmare, from my childhood.


No longer am I worried or have a headache
From my pain and my suffering I was revived,
Without the use of pills or lecturing
I healed, and I survived.

I will never travel that road again
That had once led me tragically to you,
I now care to much for my soul, my dignity and my being
Dreams and hopes, I now pursue.

I am the traveler, the explorer and the soldier
When obstacles towards me are now contrived,
I now proudly look at myself in the mirror
My soul and my pride I won, I survived.

Randy L. McClave