High Wire Poem by Ann McKinley

I am tired, of being tired.
Living life feeling like I am on a constant high wire
Stuck in the middle of the rope
Hundreds of miles above the city
To nervous to put one foot in front of the other
To afraid to move back to edge of where I'd just left
Stuck in the middle
Silently hoping I fall
As a million passersby watch my gravity defying
Anxiety inducing attempt at living
It gets harder and harder to smile everyday
To pretend that everything with me is okay
I have not come yet to terms with the fact that
My heart is not the same as everyone else's
That I love so much harder and stronger than the rest of the city does
I haven't come to terms with the fact that I am not as loved as I should be.
That the passersby on the street watching my adventurous fleet
Would go about their lives and their days
If I were to tumble face first on the pavement and shatter my soul