The Unyielding Climb By Jim Gandolf

The Unyielding Climb 

Poem 

By: Jim Gandolf 

©️11082025

From the moment the first breath was drawn, a shadow fell,

The whispers started, tales they loved to tell.

Your rising tide they could not understand,

They watched your striving with a jealous hand.

For every success, a sidelong glance they threw,

Wishing the sunlight would not shine on you.

Small Victories, Hard-Won Ground

The road ahead is paved with stones you've turned,

Each tiny stride a lesson fiercely learned.

You stumbled hard, you felt the bitter sting,

A skirmish lost, the weary bells would ring.

You counted losses, nursed the aching soul,

And thought perhaps you'd never reach the goal.

But in that dust, beneath the weight of doubt,

A stubborn ember would not be put out

   The battle lost is not the final score,

  The war is waged until you close the door.

The Breath of Persistence

They wait to see you fall, to watch you yield,

To claim the barren, unproductive field.

But look within, where fire still resides,

Where quiet, iron-willed resolve abides.

Each rising sun presents the chance anew,

To mend the broken, see the vision through.

The critics fade when action takes the lead,

You plant the future with the present seed.

So stand up tall, though weary from the fray,

Though setbacks steal the comfort of the day.

For as long as life still pulses in your chest,

Your truest, grandest purpose stands the test.

Keep moving forward, don't accept defeat,

The taste of triumph will be truly sweet.

Jim Gandolf