I tried

I tried                     6/7/2016

If I had not tried

I would not know

But if I had not lost

I wouldn’t care.

Maybe I tried to hard

And maybe I fought myself

A foolish casualty

In the battlefield

Of the mind. 

I had only just awakened

But already mortally wounded

Flailing my arms

And drowning in blood.

How can you ever win

When it’s already too late

Nothing but foolish cuckhold

Dumb, impotent, and dead.

It does no good

To wallow in regret

Once you have lived on both sides

And know

How it hurts.

Worn down and haggard

We see others

With contempt

Never knowing how easy it is

To fall through the cracks. 

Just a second too late

We swing at the shadows

Already going down

And out on our feet.

Evil has a name

And it has not changed

Persistent and remorseless

Like a python

Around your neck. 

Sizing us up

Unaware and asleep

And stalking us in the night

Patiently waiting

And tensing their coils. 

I lay awake

And count the minutes

And hours

Always watching

Now that it’s too late. 

The world groans

As do I

Because its half past midnight

And nobody cares at all. 

Many will wail

Against what they lost

Caring only for themselves

Until it’s too late.

Missing all the warnings

And missing all the love

Consumed by the self

And foolish pride. 

We are the bits of iron

Who once were clay

Strangers to the rest

And waiting for the end.

They will never understand

But we can still stick together

Now that we know

Ten times a thousand.

Renewed in the mind

All our wounds will heal

Life for the lifeless

And eternity

For the good.