Echoes No.6: Failure Poem by Daniel Brick

I am just a common man, one of
the teeming "hoi poloi, " a man of
ordinary desires, sometimes hot,
more often cool, even their satisfaction
leaves me bereft, anxious for a greater
fulfillment. I sometimes dream I am a winged
creature, but when I awake, my wings are
pressed into my flesh and cannot unfold,
or they hang uselessly, stirring slightly
in a passing breeze. Often I look out
a high window at the wide blue sky. It is
emblematic of your summons, "Come Here."
If only I could pump vital energy into
my wings, or stir my mind to grasp
some natural energy flowing freely
around my stale existence, then I would
surprise first myself and then you and -
Sometimes I move forward until an invisible
resistance halts me, Then I move backwards,
fall backwards and feel a rare excitement,
until fear halts me, fear the sentinel
that frustrates impulse and keeps me trapped.
I am after all just a common man, so why
should I aspire to change my condition?
The day has sunk into darkness, the high
window is blank. Why should it be otherwise?

(This poem is a response to "Come Here" by Baharak Barzin.")