LIFE"S RELENTLESS TIDE

 

Life’s Relentless Tide

Life is a whirlwind, a relentless storm,

Battering my soul with demands and norms.

Work’s ceaseless grind, a treadmill’s pace,

Relationships fraying, a tangled lace,

Personal dreams slip through my hands,

A weary weight on shifting sands.  Questions swirl like leaves in a gale,

Answers fade, a ghostly trail.

What’s the point? Where do I turn?

Heavy thoughts like embers burn,

Anchors sinking through my core,

Stealing sleep, haunting more.  I’ve subtracted moments, fleeting and small,

Added fears that tower tall,

Multiplied doubts in endless streams,

Divided my heart, unraveling seams.

These equations of life, unsolved, austere,

Leave me lost, year by year.  Loneliness, a shroud, a silken veil,

Wraps me tight where words fail.

A beautiful scab, a scar’s fine trace,

Shielding wounds I can’t erase,

A quiet balm, a tender sting,

Both a cage and a fragile wing.  Had I known the cost of drawing near,

The price of love, the taste of fear,

I’d have watched you from afar, serene,

A distant star in a sky unseen.

Left you whole, untouched, apart,

Spared the breaking of my heart.  For those who crave with lighter care,

Could hold you close, yet never tear.

They’d want you more, yet feel no weight,

While I, too deep, met my fate.

Bound by care I can’t release,