{"id":3330,"date":"2025-06-24T11:57:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T11:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/?p=3330"},"modified":"2025-06-24T11:57:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T11:57:30","slug":"we-survived-what-was-meant-to-destroy-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/we-survived-what-was-meant-to-destroy-us\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe Survived What Was Meant to Destroy Us\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Walking Shadow Poetry<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Life doesn\u2019t always send warnings before it breaks us. Some of us have walked through seasons that nearly destroyed everything inside yet here we are. Still breathing. Still building. Still becoming. This piece is a reflection, not just of pain, but of the quiet strength it takes to keep going when everything inside you wants to stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of us have fought battles<br>we never imagined we\u2019d survive.<br>Not with swords.<br>Not with strength.<br>Just faith&#8230; and maybe tears we wiped in the dark<br>when no one was watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, we walked into warzones unarmed,<br>wounds too deep to touch,<br>too hidden to explain.<br>Still, we walked out.<br>Scarred maybe,<br>but somehow still standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, some of us have been thrown into deep waters<br>without a single swimming lesson.<br>No float, no guide,<br>just waves that didn\u2019t care<br>what we were already carrying.<br>At some point, we honestly thought we\u2019d drown&#8230;<br>But somehow, we didn\u2019t.<br>We learned how to breathe underwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, we\u2019ve passed through fires.<br>Not once.<br>Not twice.<br>And it wasn\u2019t just hot it <em>burned<\/em>.<br>Even then, we could smell our own hope catching flames,<br>and still,<br>we walked out.<br>Not ashes.<br>But gold,<br>refined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were also ICU moments in life,<br>times when it felt like everything inside us shut down.<br>Dreams, flatlined.<br>Joy, missing in action.<br>Motivation, on a drip.<br>For a while, we were there but not really living.<br>Smiling outside, breaking silently inside.<br>Yet, somehow,<br>we kept breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of us have woken up with tears on our cheeks,<br>and gone to bed soaking our pillows in silence.<br>Despite that, the next day,<br>we showed up.<br>We smiled.<br>We held space for others.<br>We were kind,<br>not because life was easy,<br>but because we refused to become what tried to break us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even when it was hard,<br>we kept moving,<br>even if the steps were slow,<br>even if it felt like dragging pain across pavement.<br>Why?<br>Because we believe.<br>We believe that this&#8230;<br>this mess,<br>this story,<br>these bruises,<br>they\u2019re shaping something beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than seeing them as ugly scars,<br>we now understand,<br>they are not just memories,<br>they&#8217;re <em>miracles in disguise<\/em>.<br>They are the pages of a testimony<br>we didn\u2019t even know we were writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now?<br>We don\u2019t complain like we used to.<br>We don\u2019t ask <em>\u201cWhy me?\u201d<\/em> as much.<br>Instead, we say,<br>&#8220;Let it teach me.&#8221;<br>&#8220;Let it shape me.&#8221;<br>&#8220;Let it grow me.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We take joy in small wins,<br>and we dance even when the music is low.<br>Meanwhile, we make memories.<br>We breathe deeper.<br>We hold gratitude like it\u2019s sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We keep going.<br>Even if it\u2019s half a step.<br>Even when we feel stuck.<br>Because in the end, we know,<br>someone out there is waiting for our story<br>to unlock theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This pain?<br>It will give us wisdom.<br>These experiences?<br>They\u2019re the puzzle pieces that make us whole.<br>They\u2019re not curses.<br>Instead, they\u2019re chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We won\u2019t stop being kind,<br>because kindness saved us.<br>We won\u2019t stop dreaming,<br>because the dreams kept us alive.<br>We won\u2019t stop moving,<br>because even in the storm, motion is hope.<br>And we won\u2019t stop writing,<br>because someone needs to read<br>what we were almost too afraid to live through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, no,<br>the water will not drown us.<br>The fire will not consume us.<br>The pain will not break us.<br>The battles will not silence us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are still here.<br>We are becoming.<br>We are victorious.<br>We are rising.<br>We are great.<br>And we are just getting started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/a-working-moms-silent-pain\/\">A Working Mom\u2019s Silent Pain by walking shadow poetry<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1F578dERoF\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1F578dERoF<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If this touched you, share it with someone who might need a reminder that they, too, are still here and that is powerful.<\/em><br>#WalkingShadowPoetry #WeAreStillHere #HealingThroughWords #TraumaToTestimony #PoetryForTheSoul #GrowFromWhatWasMeantToKillYou<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Strong But Tired  Spoken Word for Firstborns Carrying Silent Burdens  Walking Shadow Poetry 2025\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N2mRys7n_54?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Walking Shadow Poetry Life doesn\u2019t always send warnings before it breaks us. Some of us have walked through seasons that nearly destroyed everything inside yet here we are. Still breathing. Still building. Still becoming. This piece is a reflection, not just of pain, but of the quiet strength it takes to keep going when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,97,25,98],"tags":[35,49,34,67,50,61,55,53,22,48],"class_list":["post-3330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poem","category-poetry","category-solitude","category-storytime","tag-poems","tag-poetess","tag-poetry","tag-preciousowoko","tag-spokenword","tag-spokenwords","tag-stories","tag-story","tag-walkingshadowpoetry","tag-walkingshadowpoetrykenya"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/pexels-photo-3550518.jpeg?fit=975%2C1300&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3206,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/to-be-chosen-first-by-walking-shadow-poetry\/","url_meta":{"origin":3330,"position":0},"title":"To Be Chosen First by walking shadow poetry","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"April 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The pain became unbearable...and honestly, I didn\u2019t see it coming.I thought I was strong.I thought I had it all together.But that day\u2026 something just broke. I went to pray, hoping to find peace.However, instead, I found tears I couldn't hold back.I tried to distract myself,editing a video, pretending I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MG_0273-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MG_0273-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MG_0273-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MG_0273-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3313,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/why-every-student-deserves-to-be-seen-spoken-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":3330,"position":1},"title":"Why Every Student Deserves to Be Seen Spoken Word","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"June 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"He sat in the back.Not because he liked it there...But because it hurt less to be ignoredThan to be noticed and torn apart. They called him slow.Said he was a waste of chalk,A sentence that couldn\u2019t end,A question mark that never made sense.So they punished himFor not being what they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1676-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1676-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1676-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1676-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1676-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3340,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/letting-go-is-the-hardest-thing-to-ever-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":3330,"position":2},"title":"Letting go is the hardest thing to ever do.","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"June 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time we crossed paths,my heart was pounding; like a drumline reaching its final round.Although I wasn\u2019t hoping for a reunion,still, the weight of the past made itself known.Because even now,memories have a way of echoing louder than the moment There they were,the same eyes that once read my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_6819-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_6819-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_6819-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_6819-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_6819-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3248,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/if-it-wasnt-love-why-did-it-hurt-like-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":3330,"position":3},"title":"\u201cIf It Wasn\u2019t Love, Why Did It Hurt Like This?\u201d","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"April 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn\u2019t plan this.Honestly, falling for you wasn\u2019t on my checklist.At first, you were just my person, my safe place,the one who made the world feel a little less loud. Over time, though, things began to shift.At first, it was subtle.Then gradually, your smile started feeling like home.And suddenly, your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9953-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9953-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9953-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9953-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3074,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/start-all-over-again-by-walking-shadow-poetry-kenya\/","url_meta":{"origin":3330,"position":4},"title":"START ALL OVER AGAIN by walking shadow poetry Kenya","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"March 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I should have walked away, but I stayed too long,Held on to echoes of a broken song.I spoke when silence was my friend,But my words; oh, they didn\u2019t mend. I\u2019ve stayed in places I should have left,Clinging to memories, feeling bereft.Restless nights, mind in a spin,Fighting battles, I never stepped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;POETRY&quot;","block_context":{"text":"POETRY","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poetry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photography of barrel wave","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/pexels-photo-1298684.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/pexels-photo-1298684.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/pexels-photo-1298684.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/pexels-photo-1298684.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/pexels-photo-1298684.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2875,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/bridge-of-redemption-by-walking-shadow-poetry\/","url_meta":{"origin":3330,"position":5},"title":"Bridge of Redemption by walking shadow poetry","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"December 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I walked on roads I shouldn\u2019t have,Left behind hearts torn apart.I carried shame like a heavy stone,A burden that crushed my heart. The bridges I burned stood in ruins,Ashes of trust I betrayed.Each step forward felt like a storm,And my hope began to fade. 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