Consumed

The past 35 years have consumed me;

eaten 

my core;

absorbed

my very essence. 

 

Time and events have eroded the man;

corroded the confidence,

ground future anticipation,

crushed hope,

suffocated joy. 

 

My body is marked with a full record of the physical wounds I have endured;

scars lie prominently

on the surface of hands,

face, arms, legs

and torso. 

 

But those scars are the only remaining source of joy in my life; 

they recall adventures lived

challenges met

and most often

bested. 

 

They, and the wounds that created them

have had no hand

in the destruction

of who I was

to be.

 

The teeth, jaws, and acid that has consumed my present and my future are relationships;

unseen disfigurements within

destruction of dreams

disappointment in plans

and diminishment of soul. 

 

Blisters oozed the force of life that

once buoyed my future,

leave me calloused

and awash

in the detritus of a life gone awry.

 

  © copyright 2015 Marty Vandermolen, All Rights Reserved