Persistence

Persistence… a small word for a monstrous fight.
When daemons of pain keep you awake at night.
When your body bends as your soul twists and breaks.
When the only thing you can possibly feel is all consuming hate.

When you look at the world and feel the sickness inside.
When there is no safe haven for love, because life is a lie.
When the eyes that see are blind to all that is real.
When there is nothing at all that time can possibly heal.

The size of the fight in the dog does not guarantee an unbought win.
The size of the dog in the fight, a propaganda side effect, hallucinogen.
When the silence is so loud that your ears begin to bleed.
When there is solace in the noises that drown out the greed.

When you twist inside of yourself until your bones begin to break.
When all that beats around you is the slow and grinding ache.
When the only way you can breathe is to drown in fake euphoric treats.
When all you have left is nothing but a heart that persistently beats.

When time swallows you into the void of overthinking regret.
When all you have are memories you’d much rather forget.
How do face that thought? Decide to fight another war?
How do you keep fighting, when you are only an empty core?

The words of the answer flow from my thoughts with ease, my friend.
Its the actions, to reap the rewards, that you must survive to reach the end.
You must learn to forget the memories, but let their lessons that they taught remain.
You must learn to forgive, not others, but your mindless self-inflicted pain.

You tear yourself apart and try to rebuild yourself every fucking day.
You morn your soul in the darkness when all judging eyes are turned away.
Yet, you persist, you never stop, blood dripping from your feet.
You smile, you laugh, you hide that you carry the weight of each defeat.

As a perpetually changing machine, built to persist, to learn, to grow, to feel
in a world where it is impossible for wounds infected by filth to heal,
how and why do I keep going, while I have nothing but emptiness inside?
Where what is true and right and real, is something you must hide?

An empty vessel, can be filled again. The truth can be removed from all the lies.
From embers fire can burn hot and free. From fire is where the phoenix will rise.
When you cleanse the memories from your wounds, the scars will still remain.
But scars don’t hurt as much and you have grown numb to the relentless pain.

Persistence… indeed, an insignificant little word for a seemingly impossible fight.
But, as warriors do, we persist because we know the truth… It is in the darkness that you find your light.