Category: Adult Category (18+) 
Word Count: 264 words
About the Piece: This poem explores the heavy burden of isolation and false judgment, and the profound resilience found in the natural beauty and spirit of Bahrain. It is a story of choosing to step back from the edge and embracing a fresh, unbroken dawn. 
 

They tell me, "Don't give up,"
but how long can a soul truly hold?
What was the error, where was the fault,
when the sincerity I offered turned so cold?

I worked until my hands were bare,
yet at the scales, nothing balanced out.
The world dragged my name through the dust,
turning my truth into a weapon of doubt.
 
 
They painted a fraud where a heart used to beat,
writing a final, venomous phrase:
Pathetic. Stupid. Entirely undone.
A label to carry for the rest of my days.

Now I stand where the earth falls away,
clinging tight to a narrowing view.
The bitterest truth is the quiet out here—
there is no one beside me. No one but the blue.

The final hour pulls at the seams,
an agonizing weight to sever the tie.
To the few who were close, to the few who were dear:
how heavy a thing, this inevitable goodbye.

But the edge was not the final page.
In the vastness out here, a sudden stillness broke—
watching the waves crash against the shore.
Each arrival shattered, a failed attempt,
yet they never tire. They pull back, they return,
continuing an eternal, unbroken war.

And there, in the rhythm of the rising sea,
a deeper resilience silently spoke.
Looking out to the bluish sea from the windows,
I saw how the dust settles after the storm,
and realized my story had more to define.

The island’s warm winds whispered a different song,
washing away the bitter dust,
showing me where I truly belong.
Under Bahrain’s bright, enduring sun,
the darkness dissolved, the shadows withdrew.

I stepped back from the fading edge of my life—
alive, unbroken, and born anew,
ready for a fresh new dawn.