Day by day,
I sit and feel this pain.
It is sharp.
Like a blade,
Pressing against my back.
Day by day,
I sit and wonder
Where it comes from.
Like Rodin’s sculpture,
My thoughts are deep.
Day by day,
I sit and feel this pain.
It is relentless.
Like the hands of time,
It never ceases.
Day by day,
I sit and wonder
Why I can’t walk away.
Like The Thinker,
I am stoic and motionless.
by Cody McCullough
Photo by Elizabeth McCullough
Cody McCullough Writes: 
this is a very truthful piece, especially if you fight any darkness – depression.
beautiful piece, touching piece, sad piece.
Thank you for recognizing the truth in this poem. At its core, it’s about the struggle of day to day life. Day to day struggles, of course, come in many different forms….
I highly recommend Chiropractic as a lifestyle decision.
I only wish a chiropractor could cure the ailment I was writing about in this poem….
To me the major element in this piece is the relentless rhythm repeating through each verse reinforcing the reference to your unending pain. Very well done.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I tried to leave this poem open-ended, so that it could relate to the struggles of day to day life. I had something in mind when I wrote this poem, but each reader may have something else in mind….
Poetry is always open to interpretation. What one writes, doesn’t always convey the true story. I do that sometimes as well. This was well written. And may you find peace with this struggle someday.
Thank you for saying that my poem was well written. Fortunately, I’m finding more and more peace each passing day. I suppose that topic, though, will have to wait for another day.
Beautiful, true, and sad poem.Depression feels just the way you describe.
Cody, I have visited this poem, “Day by Day” several times now. I think it is fabulous, I’m actually quite taken with it. I don’t know if your intent was to have these poems read in order, and because I have jumped around, perhaps I have missed some important connective properties of the series. For me, I think this work, and it’s subtle, takes into account all three: the past, present and future, especially my favorite stanza/verse,
“Day by day,
I sit and feel this pain.
It is relentless.
Like the hands of time,
It never ceases.”
My thoughts are, we bring our pain from the past into our present, and from our present into the future. Thank you, I really enjoyed this poem, and it evoked a lot of deep thought.
Enjoy your Sunday,
Pepper
I’m glad to hear that this poem evoked deep thought in you. I don’t believe that I have ever received a better complement than that. Deep thought is what this whole project has been all about. One day I became deeply bored, and I had an idea. That idea was to put my thoughts into words. I’m glad that I did, and I’m glad that you like my words. Thank you for your wonderful comment. 🙂