How much can mankind bear and bend,
Before the soul begins to rend?
How many storms must tear the sky,
Before we pause to ask: why?
We shoulder fire, we cradle dust,
We build on bones, because we must.
We learn to smile with broken teeth,
And sleep while sorrow seethes beneath.
We’ve marched through ice, through plague and war,
Through silence knocking at the door.
We’ve lost our gods, and found them too,
In ashes, books, and skies once blue.
The child still cries in every land,
The soldier bleeds into the sand.
The widow counts the empty chair,
While leaders speak of plans and prayers.
How much can mankind take and still
Pretend that this is strength, not will?
Is pain the proof that we belong—
Or just the chorus of a wrong?
Yet somehow, still, we rise each day,
With trembling hope we can’t betray.
We plant a tree, we write a song,
We hold each other, weak but strong.
Perhaps endurance is our curse—
To carry both the best and worst.
But in that weight, a spark remains:
The dream that we can break our chains.
How much can mankind still endure?
As much as needed—
But never more.
Thank-you for reading.
Remember there are many paths back to God.
Follow your own path,
Brenda Marie
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