{poetry now: The Fighter}

The Fighter

I fight a battle every day

Against discouragement and fear;

Some foe stands always in my way,

The path ahead is never clear!

I must forever be on guard

Against the doubts that skulk along;

I get ahead by fighting hard,

           But fighting keeps my spirit strong.

I hear the croakings of Despair,

The dark predictions of the weak;

I find myself pursued by Care,

No matter what the end I seek;

My victories are small and few,

It matters not how hard I strive;

Each day the fight begins anew,

           But fighting keeps my hopes alive.

My dreams are spoiled by circumstance,

My plans are wrecked by Fate or Luck;

Some hour, perhaps, will bring my chance,

But that great hour has never struck;

My progress has been slow and hard,

I’ve had to climb and crawl and swim,

Fighting for every stubborn yard,

           But I have kept in fighting trim.

I have to fight my doubts away,

And be on guard against my fears;

The feeble croaking of Dismay

Has been familiar through the years;

My dearest plans keep going wrong,

Events combine to thwart my will,

           But fighting keeps my spirit strong,

And I am undefeated still!

~ S.E. Kiser (1862 – 1942)

Samuel Ellsworth Kiser was born in Shippenville, Pa. He began newspaper work in Cleveland, and from 1900 until 1914 was editorial and special writer for the Chicago Record-Herald. He’s one of those widely syndicated, often-repeated old poets that I’d never heard of until this week, and now I want to find everything he’s ever written.

Keep fighting. Stay strong. Your life may feel like a mess right now, but there WILL be an end to this part.