I’ll Do Better Than ‘OK’ – Poetry by Markus Hamence, April 2026

I won’t be living on the thin fragile line anymore,
that narrow vacant place they call “alright”.
Where the spirit eats crumbs in the daylight,
and calls it a somewhat a feast at night.

I’ve been walking with a quiet unspoken compromise,
like a broken prayer, half-spoken and half-denied.
Singing soft so no one notices,
the fire i’ve been trying to hide.

But there’s a rhythm in my chest now,
it beats and it won’t keep time with fear.
It’s a low, sacred drum of becoming –
saying, get up, your truth is near, it’s here.

I will do better than ‘ok’,
not dressed in glittery gold or glory,
but in the raw sound of my own voice,
telling my unedited story.

I’ve seen what ‘fine’ can do to a soul,
turning slowly, turning into something small.
Make it bow to the weight of silence,
till it forgets how to stand so strong and so tall.

No more, no more of that gentle wrecked fading,
no more of that quiet rotting decay.
I’ve got breath and a reason to use it,
I’ve got something real now to say.

So let me stumble in the light,
let me rise with dust on my knees and my name.
Let me love like it’s the only language,
and burn without any of the shame.

I will do better than ‘ok’
with a soul that refuses the disguise.
With a spirit as blood that moves like water,
and a truth in my heart that never denies.

And if the road gets rough with thunder,
I’ll still sing my way through the dreary and uncertain grey.
Because the song inside knows my truth, my freedom,
and it’s louder than just “I’m okay”.