Too many years toiling in
Dangerous surroundings, risking
Life and limb with every passing
Eternity.
Too many years wiping the dust
From his eyes, a hacking cough a
Perpetual reminder of his career
Choice.
Too many years. His son came of
Age and was pridefully encouraged,
Expected, to carry on the family
Tradition.
She was so perfect.
Perfect eyes.
Perfect face.
Perfect hair.
Perfect body.
Perfect clothes.
Perfect career.
Perfect family.
Perfect house.
Perfect life.
Perfect everything.
Perfect misery.
Stop being so hard.
I can’t.
Stop being so mean.
I won’t.
Stop being so controlling.
I refuse.
O.K. Continue as you are.
I will.
I don’t care when I kill a dream
Unintentionally and do
Everything in my power to
Not think about it much.
I hate when I kill a dream
Unintentionally and do
Everything in my power to
Reverse the flow.
It crept up on me.
I didn’t realize how attached
I was to my original idea or
How hard it would be to
Reshape my conception now
Rendered meaningless.
An unsolicited shattering of
Comfortable routine,
Shaking me awake,
Reminding me there is
A lot of work left to do.
Bruised during the most
Important formative years,
She grew up to crave power,
Dominance, control over others.
Routinely battered
Throughout her upbringing,
She flowered into a beautiful
Champion of the meek.
Charting an unsteady course
Home from a party where
He enjoyed twenty too many,
It struck him that he was in an
Unfamiliar house.
Stumbling through rooms,
Desperately trying not
To announce his presence or
Bother anyone,
Maddeningly unable to do
Anything but flounder
Helplessly as he careened
From point to point.
A sad young creature winding
Its way toward a place it
Doesn’t want to be.
They walked into each other’s lives
Without a single clue as to how to
Treat someone well. The only tool
They possessed was the ability to
Repeat what they had seen their
Respective parents do, poorly.
They proceeded to make each other
Occasionally joyful but mostly
Profoundly miserable. Such is the
Fate of those who live unconsciously,
Perpetuating the ordeal one reaction at a time,
Each new mistake following the last.
I used to agonize about every
Little thing, no matter how
Minuscule, insignificant,
Unremarkable.
Now I save my energy for
Medium size debacles, which
Seem to visit
With similar frequency.
Perhaps one day
I’ll welcome a new visitor
Who offers me solace,
Long-awaited relief.
