Yesterday
I was
Found
Hiding in the thicket
Of tangled thorny lies
And fears hidden by nervous reactions
But
The leaves have all dropped out now
My armor
No longer impenetrable steel
A sharp remark
Beats at my last fragile shield
Pale old deceptions
Flinch at a sudden glare
Truth has a way
Of eating you apart
I’m almost gone
My remains are scarce but pure
Yesterday, I was
Crawling
A stranger to myself
Fighting a reluctant battle
My anger erupting
One wrong word spit out
Then
Silence

Yesterday, I was
Sold out
By an enemy
Burrowed deep
Inside myself
The unforgiving war we fought
Ended briskly
Many lives were
Lost
I don’t recognize
The face I’ve so
Delicately molded
Yesterday
Hard, bittersweet anger
Ate away
What was left
Of my shielded soul

Today
I am a lost dreamer
A bitter sailor
No thrill for unknown lands
A silent screamer
Finding no peace in the
Soundproof walls
of selfish minds

Today
I am scratching away
At a pad of
White-hot paper
My hostile mind
Is exhausting
I’m trying for
Something more
But it’s all in vain

I am
Recording
Something I
Hope to never
Remember
I am thirsty for
The sweet simplicity
Of a blank slate
But I must live with what I’ve done
As I will have to live
With what

I’ve
Become