compact pike
To live is to write
Not on paper
Do that later
Get down all the nitty gritty details
But for now
You write for them
For the ones who see
Who judge
They critique
Every step and move and touch
decided on a rubric
Grades? Decent
Extracurriculars? Plenty
Talent?
Nonexistent.
And no one will like your story
Because they don't need to care
They don't know what you bear
To them,
All you are is a resume
Your soul confined to a list of scars
Of everything you've done so far
You write for 18 years
But it's not long enough
And god forbid you want to write something different
They want analysis
But what if you ooze poetry?
What if waves of art just flow from your mind
Like a river of lines
Language woven down your spine
Finally something you can do
And close enough to correct
But what if you don't want to write at all?
What if you want to dance with abandon
And sing songs until the world ends
Pouring your soul into something different…
Is pointless.
That doesn't matter
Because that’s just fluff
Filler episodes in your sorry excuse for a life
So get back to work
And don't stop
Move harder and faster
The sweat dripping down your body
They drink up that stuff
Hard work is what they live for
craving more
And more
And more
Until you run dry
And when that happens
You get left behind
pallid yarrow