I step out of the car and
retread the steps from days past
Never missing a beat,
placing my foot expertly on the archaic pavement
This path into school has
become second nature
Each of the 26 bones
pressing firmly into the charred Earth; they are no strangers
To the routine I have
done for the past 2 years
A never ending loop
Mechanical and reptilian,
swirling around like a serpent
With cold emotionless
eyes
As it consumes a meal of
99 cent coffee and 4 hours of sleep
It’s venom puncturing the
vessels of life
Convincing me not to be
the hero in the strife
And despite my efforts to
quell the poison,
I slump down, defeated,
and let instinct takeover
Shutting off the higher
functions of my grey matter
I drop the mix of
creative thinking, letting it splatter
As I jump around in its
breathing puddles
Instead I embrace this
creature called Routine
Squeezing it deep into my
chest, crushing it to powder
Ravenously consuming the
crumbs that are left behind
I tell myself that today
will be the last time,
I ignore the what life
has to offer
I say I will refuse to be
a stalker
For rather than admiring
it from a distance
I can finally glimpse its
true brilliance
But I ask for an
extension of one more day
Just one day more, before
I turn my attention to you and explore…
But life treads on,
showcasing its beauty to an audience who is too tired to be listening
It sighs, letting the
curtain fall once more
It has heard the excuses
No longer giving tardies
or late arrivals, only worrying about it survival
As it struggles to keep
the toxin-infected class interested
This is the umpteenth
performance, and the critics are not pleased
And on life goes, its
gold quickly fading…
But today, must be
different
Today I must step into
the light, fighting for what’s right, with all of my might, and refusing to
cower back and take flight
Were we not meant to live
lives of more substance?
To rise above the pain and
swoop below the mundane?
To explore the unknown
and accomplish great feats…
Rather than Live die, and
then repeat…
So I urge you to take joy
in what you have,
Take time to enjoy the
leaves of grass
To carve your own path
To take the road less
traveled, rather than the wide and easy path
For life was meant to be enjoyed
