I arrive

I arrive, enthusiasm laden

With hope for the day.

I arrive, piles of paper, corpses of previous hope, strewn about my desk

A battlefield of futures.

They arrive, demands to be met work harder try again lead on redo be different be consistent.

Steal hope, murder ambition, attack joy and punish the weak,

You’re not good enough, they can’t read

You’re not good enough, they don’t eat

You’re not good enough, they don’t sleep

You’re not good enough, you don’t read, sleep or eat.

I take it, bury it, down a dark lane

Its form forgotten, its memory a plaque

Its sneers no more

It’s nightmares a celebration.

They arrive, infinite demands

Weak in spirit and strength I offer myself

They sup and ask for more

Never enough, never good enough.

The mud is churned where the shells arrived

The trench is foul and filled with filth

Casings litter the ground around

I drop down into the dark, just enough room for two.