Im lost.I would ask for directions, but nobody knows how to get to where I want to go.
The other day I caught my reflection in the window of a store and it frightened me;
for a moment, I thought I was being followed.
It's a terrible thing, to exist together and alone.
I turn every corner with my head down,
but keep my eyes open just in case.
Sometimes I can feel it again,
I hold my breath, afraid to blink,
eyes watering from the burn of the air,
but everything I see
looks like it's missing something.
My head fills with the thoughts and advice of men who did extraordinary things,
and doubt.
The snarling voice of comparison and hindsight
hacks away at what's left
of hopeful ideas and endless possibility.
Everything takes so much time and nothing ever gives it back.
Just lesson after lesson,
forming a chronological line of what could've been,
in preparation of having to answer to
the most terrifying thought of all.
But there's no shame in effort,
or being there and doing that,
facing shame and consequence,
overcoming risk and rationality,
and jumping into the fire.
