I lay in acceptance of my demise
Staring at bare wrists
That itch to be opened
To breathe in the wind
And air out its last words
In red ink
Written on the earth
Not far beneath me
The wheel turns, they say
One day at the top and the next not
But I watch how it steers at whim of the powerful
And rolls on the backs of the poor
Powered by the desperation of the hopeful
Though occasionally misplaced in the slippery palms of fools
I tried World
To give and work to receive
But my head hangs low at the thought that my lottery dreams
Mean nothing to you
My heart of gold now a lump of mass with no beat
To prove my existence
“And she was so beautiful”, is all they will say
As they sum up my presence
Their momentary guilt can only distract them long enough
To watch as my body is returned to the soil
And whisper their condolences to the tears that will never fuel a resurrection
Before they return to their lives of taxed selfishness, they hope to find love in
I’m defeated…
Not because my taste for the expensive was never quenched
Nor because my back broke at the hard work that got me nowhere
But because I ran in circles in search for peace,
Held back by shackles of my guardians’ poor decisions
That I couldn’t shake off
And became dehydrated from my cries to God
While someone else always needed Him more
So, I’ll live in my defeat
On blackened knees and wishful thinking
Filling my cheeks to pleasure the stem of opportunity
As I dream of a better life than this