The Weight of Living

A Poem by Nowell Dulin

Not really sure yet

Life is not a dream,
not a fairy tale painted in soft hues,
but a landscape of jagged edges,
where every step is a choice,
and every choice is a weight.

There are moments of light,
brief flickers of warmth
that make you believe
The world is full of promises.
But shadows follow,
not as villains,
but as parts of the whole,
quiet reminders
that nothing is ever simple.

We work, we love, we ache,
sometimes all at once,
like the sun and the rain,
fighting for their place in the sky.
We carry our burdens,
though we often don’t see them
hidden behind smiles,
behind the quiet hum of daily survival.

There are days when hope feels distant,
like a star you can almost touch,
and then others when it’s right there,
sitting beside you,
whispering that you’re not alone.

The truth is,
life is a mess of contrasts
beauty and pain,
loss and gain,
stumbling and standing tall
a thousand things
all happening at once,
and still,
we find a way to keep moving.

Because the real magic of life
is not in the perfect moments,
but in the messy, imperfect truth
that we keep going
even when it’s hard to see the way.