I know you, my fears,

We have been acquaintances,

Partners, for so long,

Grown up together.

 

The longing for other than is –

Give me my ideal self or strike me from this planet,

So strike me.

A point of nowhere,

A place never achieved, nor achievable,

A place other than what is, what I am,

So I tell myself, I am not.

 

Of not knowing love –

What is this thing that others feel,

And I cannot.

Foolish people,

Don’t they know we must live by rock and stone,

And smash the two together,

To make this world?

 

And tired exhaustion –

Oh why will this dreary show not finish?

Give me black extinction,

Give me the end.

 

And now my friends,

Now, it takes a firm commitment,

Strong constitution,

A stiff upper lip.

But now I welcome you,

And see that you are me,

And I am you.

But I add this caveat,

That I am other, too.