The Shallow

Reminiscent of once having held              
a woman of substance, elegance.              
Beautiful from the inside, out.              
A rare and precious gem,              
you treated like any other stone.              
             
Now, drowning in regret.              
As the reality of what was lost, settles in.              
Crying out in mournful heartache,              
life lacks meaning,              
without her presence...            
             
Tirelessly trying to capture, contain              
the radiance in your hands.              
Naively unaware,              
such grace and light will              
always find a way              
to escape through the cracks.              
Hands too small, weak              
to bear the weight of such majestic vastness.              
Mind too prejudice, cluttered              
to comprehend the depth, brilliance.              
             
Unable to see beyond the familiar,              
hindering expansion outside            
confines of oneself.              
Left navigating both love and life,              
bearing  stark resemblance to the women              
spent vigorously seeking comfort in.              
             
Empty, shells of human beings.              
Illusions of beauty.              
Physically appealing,              
but vacant of              
anything real, authentic.              
Broken, damaged, misguided souls.              
Hollow crevasses.              
             
You, them...            
Merely apparitions            
Aimlessly floating through life              
as if a purgatory of sorts.              
Lost... lacking meaning,              
purposeful direction.              
Enchained to beckoning traumas of the past            
Held captive by regrets,  wasted potential.                
Hidden by protective mask of denial.              
Remaining haunted by unfinished business of              
a life, unlived.    
             
Yet ironically,              
still possessing breath,              
squandering the gift of life.          
Foolishly mishandling will,        
taunting fate.    
Eternally damning oneself            
           
While life blooms all around,              
ignorantly and narrow-mindedly, remain              
diligently enthralled,              
in this cosmic, romantic              
dance of take and take.            
A competition of whom can            
 use whom more.            
Boastfully eager            
to play the game, better.              
Terrified of being left,              
the bigger fool.              
Yet, no one ever crowned a winner.              
All parties coming out more broken,            
jaded, and depraved.              
Further deepening their wounds,              
strengthening ties that bind them,              
further depreciating their character.              
Making bigger, crueler,              
more cunning, malevolent monsters              
of one another.              
             
I offered you my hand.              
Outstretched invitation,              
to embark a path, promising              
a way out  of darkness              
and into the light.              
Instead, you bit my hand            
And mocked me as I bled              
             
Expect no sympathy.            
Too fearful,              
Too comfortable, to leave.              
Belonging in this hell              
created for yourself.              
             
Lost in the shallow...            
        
Heart shivering in bitter cold,              
devastatingly lonely.              
Doomed to remain stagnant, never progressing.          
Trapped in an everlasting cycle,              
avoidance of shame and denial of truth.              
Incessantly attempting to fill an internal void with things, illicit endeavors              
outside oneself.              
But never adorning enough.              
Satiation unreachable.              
             
Victims of vanity              
Too blinded, too distracted,              
too arrogant,              
to see...            
The key required to escape              
Is to fill              
the void              
from the inside, out...            
             
May God have mercy on your souls