If You Only Knew... Poem by Derrick Andrews

Regardless of all our strengths,
Our empathy does have its lengths,
Yes, we do love to help others,
Solve problems with sisters and brothers,
Or discuss all of the problems, with which we've faced,
Gripping the blade, charging at problems that are now squarely placed,
In our face.
Grimacing at the pain of the depth of a blow,
Then surging on still, as if, we didn't know,
What pain was, until the faint buzz,
Of reality breaks neutrality, revealing the scars,
Gashes from heavily sharpened blades and bruises from blunt bars,
Regardless of how strong we are,
Our limit bar's,
Set prematurely,
But we are stuck with the theory, that one day, surely,
We will heighten it's reach, farther than it's ever gone,
And we will grow stronger from our losses, we will carry on,
Until the day that we meet a truly ravenous beast,
Who wants nothing more in life, than to make us its feast,
And raising its axe, it lets out a deep, piercing roar,
With a fierce dark resonance, that seeps to our core,
Rattles our stomachs, as our blades clatter onto the floor,
It tastes our fear with delight, and starts to yell even more,
Your knees scrape the rough gravel, you start to reach for your sword,
But as the beast fiercely approaches you, you cease to move forward,
Salivating furiously, it stomps on the ground,
The earth rumbles and you cry for help, but no one's around,
Its massive hand plunges deep into your bare, naked chest,
And all you can think about is that you failed to do your best,
And as it plucks your heart from within you, and devours it whole,
Your eyes turn blank and dull as he devours your soul.

And all at once you remember, all the advice you'd gotten,
But you turned it all down stubbornly, spoiled and rotten,
Convinced that everything in life, should always be easy,
And that even on the worst days, it might be slightly breezy,
Never once considered the hurt of the hail and the storm,
Only ever considering peace, as the one true norm.,
And that life itself was effortless, easy to pass,
Only to notice you were slowing down, while it's moving fast,
Turning back every few seconds, to dwell on the past,
Only sharpening the image of you, finishing last.