Failure
By: Matthew Bonvillion

The world expected me to break down
Give up on life, submit to their will
And end up with all the other lost souls
Standing in line for unemployment checks
Or celebrating the first and fifteenth
I have failed it

Society expected me to assimilate
To brainlessly subject myself
To be malleable and molded
An extended figment of their obscurity
And enroll the hierarchy of mediocrity
I have failed it

Fate expected me to roll with the punches
To play with the hand I was dealt
From a royal flush to a folding hand
Never to question the divine plan
And to bear any fardels unloaded
I have failed it

Time expected me to leisurely wither
Become eroded and fade away
For my voice to run hoarse and weak
So my thoughts became guile
Suppressed in Alzheimer’s desperation
I have failed it

The Grain expected no friction
For my tongue to accustom to teeth marks
An uproarious rebellion stifled
Crumpled up and tossed to the four winds
Venturing to final oblivion
I have failed it

I am not broken down, but fortified
I am not assimilated, but individual
I am not passive, but rebellious
I am not withered, but withstanding
I am not stifled, but earsplitting
I am a failure