[ fAwL ] This Is Not An Exit

     
Reality pulls not punches    
   
After taking my fair share    
I simply turned the other cheek    
in exchange for even pain    
distribution    
   
settling for complete numbness    
in refusal of letting it all    
get the best of me    
   
Given enough time    
beatings detach facial nerves    
leaving a dead skin mask    
handy in hiding emotion    
   
but this is not an exit; only    
another path of least resistance    
in a life long journey paving
bypasses to hardship    
   
Creation of distance    
through avoidance    
   
You, on the other hand  
are by far the strongest  
and bravest person  
I've ever known    
---in my face, advising me    
to walk through circumstances    
rather than ignore them    
   
even if it smacks of    
copper to the tongue    
and yellowed starburst vision    
accompanying bone crunching    
salutations from that high school    
neanderthal's fist    
   
I yield to your wisdom    
because you've endured    
more than the average person    
can handle in a dozen lifetimes    
   
having traveled this road    
winding up the mountainside    
waiting at the end of a driveway    
for me to catch up    
   
Rather than [re]routes, bestowed    
is the gift of alternate perspective;    
I continue onward towards    
my inspiration who with every  
step taken becomes larger than life    
   
as if her Heart already wasn't    
   
Separation comes in many    
forms and disguises    
   
none of which are optional