There’s no doubt about it: change is a constant in life. Whether or not we’ve anticipated it, life has a way of catching us off guard. Even if things don’t go as planned, we can always look at them as a fresh start to learn and grow.
When it comes to our mental well-being, it doesn’t matter who we are, what we’ve done, or what we have.
These poems will help you see that you are the only one who has the power to make a difference in your life and that you are the only one who can do something about it. If you ever find yourself in a dark place, I hope that you’ll turn to the poets for inspiration.
A good poem can soothe your soul and help you prepare for the truths you’ll discover at this time in your life.
We’ve compiled a list of the best poems about change that will give us inspiration and encourage us to be open to change.
Table of Contents
1. Rebirth By Alex Elle
there will be moments when
you will bloom fully and the
wilt, only to bloom again.
if we can learn anything from
flowers it is that resilience is born
even when we feel like we are
dying
2. From Constant Change Figures By Lyn Hejinian
constant change figures
the time we sense
passing on its effect
surpassing things we’ve known before
since memory
of many things is called
experience
but what of what
we call nature’s picture
surpassing things we call
since memory
we call nature’s picture
surpassing things we’ve known before
constant change figures
experience
passing on its effect
but what of what
constant change figures
since memory
of many things is called
the time we sense
called nature’s picture
but what of what
in the time we sense
surpassing things we’ve known before
passing on its effect
is experience
3. The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
4. Eleven By Tanya Markul
The pain
that made you
the odd one out
Is the story
That connects you
To a healing world
5. Redemption By Warsan Shire
Take one pint of water, add a half-pound of sugar,
the juice of eight lemons, the zest of half a lemon.
Pour the water from one jug then into the other several times.
Strain through a clean napkin.
Grandmother, the alchemist, you spun gold out of this hard life,
conjured beauty from the things left behind.
Found healing where it did not live.
Discovered the antidote in your own kit.
Broke the curse with your own two hands.
You passed these instructions down to your daughter
who then passed it down to her daughter.
I had my ups and downs,
but I always find the inner strength to pull myself up.
I was served lemons, but I made lemonade.
My grandma said, “Nothing real can be threatened.”
True love brought salvation back into me.
With every tear came redemption
and my torturers became my remedy.
So we’re gonna heal. We’re gonna start again.
You’ve brought the orchestra, synchronized swimmers.
You’re the magician. Pull me back together again,
the way you cut me in half.
Make the woman in doubt disappear.
Pull the sorrow from between my legs like silk.
Knot after knot after knot.
The audience applauds … but we can’t hear them.
6. Change” By Wendy Videlock
Change is the new,
improved
word for god,
lovely enough
to raise a song
or implicate
a sea of wrongs,
mighty enough,
like other gods,
to shelter,
bring together,
and estrange us.
Please, god,
we seem to say,
change us.
7. Change Poem by Kathleen Jessie Raine
Change
Said the sun to the moon,
You cannot stay.
Change
Says the moon to the waters,
All is flowing.
Change
Says the fields to the grass,
Seed-time and harvest,
Chaff and grain.
You must change said,
Said the worm to the bud,
Though not to a rose,
Petals fade
That wings may rise
Borne on the wind.
You are changing
said death to the maiden, your wan face
To memory, to beauty.
Are you ready to change?
Says the thought to the heart, to let her pass
All your life long
For the unknown, the unborn
In the alchemy
Of the world’s dream?
You will change,
says the stars to the sun,
Says the night to the stars.
8. Destined To Fly By Ashley Hyder
I remember the day we met.
Too young to see the danger.
I didn’t know the devil you were,
That you’d fill me with so much anger.
At first, you gave me comfort,
Numbed me from the pain,
But the light you gave me faded,
Brought blackness to my veins.
Your trap worked as always.
I am not the only one to fall.
So many friends forever gone now;
No one’s left to call.
Dragged me to rock bottom,
Each day a life in hell anew,
Felt there was no possibility
Of breaking this dependence on you.
Every day I woke
With only you on my mind,
Desperate for your love,
More desperate for you to die.
Through time I saw you were evil.
I watched you steal my soul.
Each time I tried to get away,
You would not let me go.
Tried to scream and cry,
Eventually accepted my fate.
Everyone had tried to warn me,
And now it was too late.
Family and friends could never understand,
Couldn’t hear my silent plea.
They did not want to see
The sick effect you had on me.
You locked me in a cell.
You made me freeze at night,
Made me deceive those I loved,
Made me live in constant fright.
Left broken, battered, and bruised,
My number of scars grew.
Both physical and mental,
While the number of wasted years flew.
Went through the motions like a zombie.
No longer did I see
Any type of future
In this world for me.
You erased any shred of hope
When everyone turned their backs.
Difficult to escape this dark hole and cope,
Impossible to defend against your attacks.
I knew no church, no God.
YOU, my ultimate power.
No way to know real love.
I was now a rotted, dead flower.
Then one day it happened.
Most amazing hope one moment brings,
And I decided then and there
That I would grow my wings.
No longer will you take from me
Like you have stolen all these years.
You will never take my life.
No longer will I cry these tears.
I will deal with the pain.
I will swallow all my pride.
I will deal with my life of rubble.
I’m prepared for this difficult ride.
If it kills me to leave you,
Then I will gladly die,
Because with you I’m only surviving,
And I have been destined to fly.
I will soar, laugh, and smile,
Will breathe my life once more.
I will go back to a time
Before you came knocking at my door.
9. Selfish Soul Poem by Jibin Joseph
I am a selfish soul
I don’t see the sorrows around
I don’t hear the cries
I just curse the system to change
What good did I do to change
I am a selfish soul
Am I even worthy to comment
If I myself refuse to change
I don’t even smile at people
Why do I expect them to smile
I am a selfish soul
I am living inside a cocoon
Pretending to be a happy soul
Not accepting the evils around
What good am I if I don’t change
I am a selfish soul
Why do people fight I ask
Without wanting them to stop
I don’t really care for anyone
Unless it is someone my own
I am a selfish soul
Why should I wait for a savior
Why do I even care for a change
As long as I am happy in my mask
Why do I need a change
I am a selfish soul
The miseries around make me think
But time heals everything
Those who lose they suffer
As time passes sorrows get lesser
I am a selfish soul
World filled with crooks and lies
Who cares who cries and who dies
I don’t have time for anyone
I am happy in my wicked mask
I am a selfish soul
What’s all these disease and filth
All the crippled and the sick
As all day I merry around
Little I care what’s going around
I am a selfish soul
Why should I care you beg for bread
Why do I care that you even eat
As long as I got my share of meat
What do I care whats your fate
I am a selfish soul
Little I care if on road you sleep
What do I care that you, even sleep
As long as I have my roof
I don’t care you cry or weep
I am a selfish soul
What do I care whose cries are these
As long as I am happy I care the least
I am a selfish soul
I am a selfish soul…………………
10. Before I… By Insiya K. Patanwala
Before I became strong, I knew what it was like
To be weak,
How difficult it is to love yourself,
To find the wholeness that you seek.
Before I knew the light,
I have had my fair share of darkness, too,
Where my world fell into a hopelessness
And I didn’t know how to get through.
For I have known the tears it takes,
The courage to stand up again,
When you are broken down and bruised
And you know nothing but the pain.
You forget to appreciate love,
If you haven’t seen the hate,
Till you forget the meaning of smile and laughter,
And your heart is left abate.
I have known the strength and courage
It requires to get it right,
To face the things that hold you down
And hold your head up and fight.
Before I was who I am now,
I was someone I didn’t want to be.
I was lost, battered, and defeated,
Before I knew how to be me!
11. That’s Life By Danny Joyce
This life is a wonderful gift .. accept it, embrace it.
It starts with a new day .. wake up and greet it.
Life is a challenge .. take it head-on and meet it.
Full of opportunity .. use it, don’t waste it.
This life is a mystery .. unfold it, solve it.
It starts with meaning .. wake up and understand it.
Life is a goal .. take it head-on and achieve it.
Full of promise .. fulfill it but keep it.
This life is a tragedy .. face it, accept it.
It starts with pain .. wake up and help numb it.
Life is a struggle .. take it head-on and fight it.
Full of sorrow .. sorry, just overcome it.
This life is precious .. hold it, treasure it,
It starts with hope .. wake up and feel it.
Life is a choice .. take it head-on and make it.
Full of knowledge .. use it, don’t abuse it.
This life is adventurous .. enjoy it, explore it.
It starts with a duty .. wake up and perform it.
Life is love .. take it full on and love it.
Full of beauty .. praise it and behold it.
That life is life .. live it, learn and grow
Life is good .. be good with all that you know.
12. A Complaint Poem by William Wordsworth
There is a change–and I am poor;
Your love hath been, nor long ago,
A fountain at my fond heart’s door,
Whose only business was to flow;
And flow it did; not taking heed
Of its own bounty, or my need.
What happy moments did I count!
Blest was I then all bliss above!
Now, for that consecrated fount
Of murmuring, sparkling, living love,
What have I? Shall I dare to tell?
A comfortless and hidden well.
A well of love–it may be deep–
I trust it is,–and never dry:
What matter? If the waters sleep
In silence and obscurity.
–Such change, and at the very door
Of my fond heart, hath made me poor.
13. Dust Of Snow Poem by Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
14. Change Upon Change Poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Five months ago the stream did flow,
The lilies bloomed within the sedge,
And we were lingering to and fro,
Where none will track thee in this snow,
Along the stream, beside the hedge.
Ah, Sweet, be free to love and go!
For if I do not hear thy foot,
The frozen river is as mute,
The flowers have dried down to the root:
And why, since these be changed since May,
Shouldst thou change less than they.
And slow, slow as the winter snow
The tears have drifted to mine eyes;
And my poor cheeks, five months ago
Set blushing at thy praises so,
Put paleness on for a disguise.
Ah, Sweet, be free to praise and go!
For if my face is turned too pale,
It was thine oath that first did fail, —
It was thy love proved false and frail, —
And why, since these be changed enow,
Should I change less than thou?
15. The Song of the Potter By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round,
Without a pause, without a sound:
So spins the flying world away!
This clay, well mixed with marl and sand,
Follows the motion of my hand;
For some must follow, and some command,
Though all are made of clay!
Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change
To something new, to something strange;
Nothing that is can pause or stay;
The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
To-morrow be to-day.
Change is a part of everyone’s life. We all have our hopes and fears about the future. One thing, however, is certain. We can’t expect things to stay the same, no matter how much we wish they would. There are two ways to deal with a life change.
We have a choice: we can be dejected that a shift has occurred and assume that things will get worse, or we can be ecstatic about the new opportunities for personal growth and change that the shift offers.
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