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Teen Angst Poem Challenge

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Ali Isaac and Sarah Brentyn challenged each other (and then everyone else) to post a teenage angst poem. I have a bunch of those!

I was about 17 when I wrote this. It’s the most cringe-worthy I could find. Feel free to groan.

Surrender

Surrender I would
and let the waves of you
wash over me
gaping wounds filled
with pools of serenity
I dream your hands on my face
in tenderness unbearable
despair
I weep for all the lost
and left behind
I have not finished
with the anguish
with you a tormentor for a lover
my struggle is not won
would you be my new battleground
The answer lies through the loneliness
I can not surrender
the suffering

Note: Oh boy, I was a miserable kid. Just goes to show, there’s hope.

If you take up the challenge, tag your poem #teenangstpoem

 

126 thoughts on “Teen Angst Poem Challenge”

  1. OwnShadow says:
    July 25, 2017 at 9:40 am

    The only happy teenagers those aged 113 and older. Problem is, they can’t remember why they’re happy. This is a charming, graceful poem.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Prashansa says:
    July 16, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    This made me feel warm somehow. Like I can’t explain it. It was really beautiful.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Shannie Rao says:
    July 6, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    Oh my goodness, this reminded me of so many bad angsty poems that I wrote over the years!

    Liked by 1 person

    • D. Wallace Peach says:
      July 7, 2017 at 7:15 am

      It was a fun challenge. I had to rummage through my old school stuff and this one was the most dramatic/miserable I could find. Poor me. Ha ha. Do you still have some of yours? You can take up the challenge… 😀

      Liked by 1 person

  4. deesradreadsandreviews says:
    March 4, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    I love it! If only we knew then what we know now.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Liz says:
    March 3, 2017 at 7:40 am

    17 is rough…however I would go back for one day, knowing what I know now.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Antonia says:
    March 2, 2017 at 10:57 am

    Ha ha, love it Diana!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. 2MASX says:
    March 1, 2017 at 6:20 pm

    It comes from the heart. What a lovely poem. Thats why poetry is beautiful. You express yourself well in your words. Wishing you success and happiness. Please feel free to check out my poem if you ever have time.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Sean P Carlin says:
    February 28, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    I’ve got marble notebooks filled with angsty poetry I wrote as a teenager somewhere in my mother’s closet back in New York! If I ever unearth them, I’ll publish some of it so we can all have a good laugh!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. patriciaruthsusan says:
    February 28, 2017 at 12:25 am

    I didn’t write poetry but remember sitting with tears streaming down my face and the family dachshund resting his little head on my knee and looking up at me with total sympathy. 🙂 — Suzanne

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Kev says:
    February 27, 2017 at 11:27 am

    Ooh, that’s a new one! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Lynz Real Cooking says:
    February 26, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    I like it!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Sacha Black says:
    February 26, 2017 at 7:53 am

    LOL. I know the exact poem I would publish, alas (or maybe that’s thankfully) it’s buried in the loft. Loved reading this 😋💖💖💖

    Liked by 1 person

  13. inesephoto says:
    February 25, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    Oh dear sweet girl, well done for such a young poetess.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Tara Sparling says:
    February 25, 2017 at 3:01 pm

    You’re a better woman than I. Actually you’re about 5 better women than I. I’d need to be on a rack with 10 decibels of Euro-pop blaring in my ears before I’ll publish my teenage angst. Probably because it’s not even as good as yours. On another note, how’s the suffering going?

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Widdershins says:
    February 25, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    I’m pretty sure I have a few of those tucked away somewhere that are NEVER going to see the light of day. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Teagan Geneviene says:
    February 25, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    LOL, Diana, your description… Personally, I thought this was lovely. I have no talent whatever for poetry. Have a wonderful weekend. Hugs.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. reocochran says:
    February 25, 2017 at 8:02 am

    I wrote a few of these but I probably was even more “cringe worthy” in my approach, Diana!! This actually wasn’t as bad as many I used to read from my peers. We had a high school literary magazine which I was on the editing team. My other responsibility was as the yearbook index editor of all those high school photographs taken throughout the year of four grade levels. My Mom donated our entire dining room to this yearling project! I had the privilege to write the captions and turn them in, while adding to the index. This would be so much easier now on a computer!
    Anyway, almost accidentally purchased your quartet on Amazon Kindle and had to delete to come back here to see it you have independent source in paperback series (?!) hugs xo

    Liked by 1 person

    • D. Wallace Peach says:
      February 25, 2017 at 9:54 am

      Thanks for visiting, Robin. You were busy in high school! I forget that all that work had to be done by hand. I sell everything through Amazon, so no other sources. Thanks so much for asking!! ❤ Have a great weekend, my friend. 😀

      Like

  18. ~M says:
    February 25, 2017 at 5:32 am

    I love it! See… you were always destined for greatness! 💜

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Steven Baird says:
    February 25, 2017 at 4:37 am

    See, you had talent back then. I think it’s probably mandatory for teens to write in such a style… the angst, the yearning to be understood. Lord, I have volumes of the stuff tucked away in the attic. But I think it’s the earnestness of intent that matters. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Annika Perry says:
    February 25, 2017 at 3:15 am

    It’s only cringe-worthy to you, Diana! I like this and I can definitely see your style here! My younger self can relate totally with this – oh, I think I loved to suffer! I have lots of teenage angst prose which I couldn’t bear to read – think I’d end up in a ball of embarrassment, groaning away.

    Liked by 1 person

    • D. Wallace Peach says:
      February 25, 2017 at 7:03 am

      Thanks, Annika. Yes, that unwillingness to give up my suffering was what made it so angsty. 🙂 I have far worse poems, but this one captured the time well. Hang on to all that angst-prose, you never know when it will come in handy for a post! Have a great Saturday 😀

      Liked by 1 person

  21. Christine Valentor says:
    February 24, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    I don’t think it is so bad! I could actually see it being written by an older, perhaps abused person.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. dgkaye says:
    February 24, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    Wow Diana, your writing style was beautiful even way back when. But I understand what you mean about cringing when we look back to the long ago and what we were thinking. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  23. anotherfoodieblogger says:
    February 24, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    I don’t recall having any teenage angst poetry, although I wrote a bunch of silly stuff as a child that I kept in a notebook, which I still have. I think I still have my journal from my teen years (I didn’t ever call it a diary, lol) but I don’t dare go look for it. I remember writing more rants and rambling anguish over “boyfriends” but not any poetry. Who knows what I would find? Yours sounds quite typical for that age, but it’s really not all that bad. 🙂

    Like

    • D. Wallace Peach says:
      February 25, 2017 at 6:46 am

      Oh, you should at least read that old “journal,” if only for the laughs. I have a box of old wrtings, but nothing boyfriend specific. This was the most angsty I could find and it does make the cringe a bit. 😀 Have a great weekend.

      Liked by 1 person

  24. balroop2013 says:
    February 24, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    This is fairly decent Diana…mine must be replete with strong words, if at all I could have got the opportunity to express myself. Most of the times I kept my emotions to myself…didn’t dare to write or probably didn’t have the potential at that time.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Ocean Bream says:
    February 24, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    Aww, Diana, I think this is beautifully written!

    Liked by 1 person

    • D. Wallace Peach says:
      February 24, 2017 at 3:01 pm

      You are too kind, Lenora. I think it may be that I remember the time and it was overly dramatic. Love starved and everything felt like “doomed forever.” 😀 Thanks for reading and keep smiling.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Ocean Bream says:
        February 24, 2017 at 3:10 pm

        I honestly see it as – you truly felt these things that that time, and poetry is from the heart, and even though you might think of it as something irrelevant now, to your young mind it must have been magnanimous and it was all genuine, and I really got that feeling from the poem. A mark of a true gifted writer, my friend! I hope you have a great weekend. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  26. Julie Holmes, author says:
    February 24, 2017 at 10:13 am

    Great poem, D! I’ve got a whole journal of poems I haven’t looked at for decades. Not sure they would classify as angst, though. Mostly reverence for the natural world. Not saying I wasn’t an angsty teen who never fit in, but I found solace in Nature. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • D. Wallace Peach says:
      February 24, 2017 at 11:35 am

      I honestly only found 3 that were super angsty, Julie. The rest are gone or in another box somewhere. It was fun to go through the pile – most of them horrible, but a journey nonetheless. Happy Writing. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  27. Roseylinn says:
    February 24, 2017 at 9:41 am

    Good poem. 🙂 I think I burned all the ones I wrote. 😉

    Liked by 2 people

  28. Allie P. says:
    February 24, 2017 at 9:38 am

    I’d love to join in this challenge, but sadly some poetry has simply gone ahead to an open mic reading in the sky.

    Liked by 4 people

  29. Ali Isaac says:
    February 24, 2017 at 9:10 am

    Diana!!!! You did it! Brave woman! Dare I say its actually quite good…. very dark, a little melodramatic, but then what teen isnt? Not only is it angst laden, but its bursting with passion and emotion! A perfect example of the genre, and already shining the talent yet to come.

    Liked by 3 people

  30. domainofshane23 says:
    February 24, 2017 at 8:52 am

    I have a lot of teenage poems as well. Mine sucked but this one is actually good

    Liked by 2 people

  31. Phil Ryan says:
    February 24, 2017 at 8:26 am

    I hope you read this out to the rest of the class 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  32. Sarah Brentyn says:
    February 24, 2017 at 8:12 am

    Well. 😉

    I cannot tell you how happy I am you took on the #teenangstpoem challenge. I have to find mine. I remember some of the shorter ones but you have a whole box? That’s awesome! 😀 This is the perfect doom-and-gloom of teen angst. But mine were all (ALL OF THEM) rhymed and metered. Yours has much better form and some decent lines and, really, isn’t too bad. And so super angsty. I love it!

    Liked by 3 people

  33. Jacqui Murray says:
    February 24, 2017 at 7:47 am

    That is powerful. Such angst. It was hard to read.

    Liked by 2 people

  34. noelleg44 says:
    February 24, 2017 at 7:07 am

    Diana, you nailed it! I have to say that while I can remember some angst, I’m not sure I can put it into poetry. It was such a loooooong time ago!

    Liked by 3 people

  35. SebnemSanders says:
    February 24, 2017 at 7:04 am

    Actually, I love it, Diana. There’s a very mature feeling to it. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  36. Richard Ankers says:
    February 24, 2017 at 6:44 am

    I can’t remember that far back so I’ll just bask in how good you was even back then. THAT DIDN’T SOUND RIGHT!!!!!!

    Liked by 3 people

  37. Almost Iowa says:
    February 24, 2017 at 6:41 am

    Some poetry simply need to be torn to shreds, locked into a safe, weighed down with concrete and tossed into the deepest trench in the deepest ocean found on a planet that inhabits the furthest corner of the universe….

    Gosh, how’s that for angst?

    Liked by 4 people

  38. Bernadette says:
    February 24, 2017 at 6:22 am

    Love

    Liked by 3 people

  39. Bernadette says:
    February 24, 2017 at 6:21 am

    Ah, the drama of young live.

    Liked by 3 people

  40. vanbytheriver says:
    February 24, 2017 at 5:26 am

    Whoa, teen angst indeed ! The closest I ever came to it at this age…a multi-page Dear John letter, wordy, but not poetry. You had an early gift, D. We’re not groaning. 💜

    Liked by 3 people

  41. Heartafire says:
    February 24, 2017 at 5:17 am

    Seems you’ve always had the gift Diane! This is a tempting challenge. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • D. Wallace Peach says:
      February 24, 2017 at 6:16 am

      I think it’s dreadful, Holly. It just reminds me of when I was a gloomy teenager wallowing in my suffering. 🙂 It is a fun challenge if you have some old angsty poetry lying around.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Heartafire says:
        February 24, 2017 at 6:36 am

        I don’t have any but I can make some up, lol! This is pretty good stuff for a 17 year old, Diane.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Erik says:
        February 24, 2017 at 9:15 am

        We always view our past selves through the lens of our current self. We are a harsh taskmaster, expecting the then-us to know and have experienced all that the whenever-now-us has. We even tend to interpret the thoughts and perceptions of our past selves as if the now-self had thought or seen or done those things; and so we judge.

        The fact is, we could only be where we were whenever we were. And so I don’t in any way see the poem as dreadful — just honest, and from the pen of the only person “that Diana” could be.

        Liked by 1 person

  42. babbitman says:
    February 24, 2017 at 5:11 am

    Haha! And here’s my contribution. It’s not angsty as such but more on the pretentious side of the spectrum. Very nearly the first thing on my blog and possibly the oldest thing I’ve dug out. :-p
    https://babbitman.wordpress.com/2014/10/02/embarrassing-teenage-poetry/

    Liked by 3 people

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