Mark,

Your wording along with your powerful message, makes this poem stand out to me! Love this!

so glad this is nominated. Your words are simply refreshing!

So here we all stand,
Abused by compassion
Our hearts and soul ripped out and burned
Dead and truly ashen.

We still take our chance
A phoenix from those flames.
It's what we have to do
Or else be burned away.

Favorite definitely. Spectacular!

Wow! This is such a striking and powerful piece of work! Extraordinary job!

Your words are so powerful

This is splendid and profound. I really do like repetition! They create a really powerful effect.