Reaping Growth

Take away my growth.

Take away the miles and miles of suffering

Laid out behind me like a how-to guide on failure.

.

Take away the ladders I built

To crawl out of this nightmare because the monsters

Are smart enough to use them and they're coming.

.

I can taste them on the damp,

Angry air of the first spring thunderstorms

Stained with the sort of fury that kills effortlessly.

.

I can feel the press of the failure

Creeping up behind me, the Reaper to my dreams

Finally come with scythe in hand to take what's his.

.

Let me keep it.

Not the growth, not the steps out of suffering,

And not the asphalt path stretching long behind me.

.

But maybe all of it together

Because if it is gone, then so am I.

So maybe this Reaper could forget me, just pass me by.