By Daniel Paiz

Round two of NaPoWriMo 2026 is here, and today’s piece is one of frustration. Sometimes, things build up and one doesn’t take the time to vent or relieve pressure. What happens is, that pent up energy has to disperse somewhere.

Today’s piece is the buildup of several days of work stuff, life stuff, and just needing to let some seething emotions out. Poetry is a vessel, a conduit for processing life and energy and more. This one’s dedicated to all of you who have been frustrated before and felt like there wasn’t a solid outlet for that feeling.

Frustration returns

I didn’t know I could clinch fists that hard,

color all drained and power vibrating all around,

there’s a different plane of existence

due to lack of persistence

I’m not sure I understand this at all,

like WHAT?

how can you be so afraid,

a generation quick to enrage,

but terrified of a link blowing up their page,

what’s the worst that could happen?

if you click on your phone,

you think a system generated email

will explode your home out to three different time zones?

How is this even possible,

So caustic and damaging is this fuming rage,

find a way to tap it outta me,

neighbors will stay lit for years plus a few days,

obvious I’m still processing and working through things,

but you dare equate your fear to being the same tier?

Shed them tears,

dehydrate that corpse until you’re dry,

empathy tapped to drought levels so high in the sky,

you wonder how this happened but it’s pretty clear,

I don’t expect everyone to have answers,

I expect people to search and seek out solutions that just might,

come from research and not expecting only effort from peers!

This tone should tell you,

still waters run deep,

it’s not maelstroms of anger deep below,

rather frustration of double standards persisting.

Bonus info

As mentioned in the introductory poem on April 1st, here’s the audio version, so you can hear just what the writer is feeling for each word and each line.