winning contest entry for the
❝New Year's Fiesta '22❞ contest
poetry category winner
Traveller
I am alive, I am a breathing carcass and listlessly I wait
Fumbling for control, I've become a marionette of fate
Encaged by an ironic prison whose door always stands agape
Mocking and jeering for I lack the strength to escape
My frail body once bursting with vigor is now too unsound
My parchment skin has been inked with ugly bruises all around
Running through my veins, the poisons have taken their toll
Meant to cure me, yes, but they've consumed me whole
My head has become hairless, dark bags tug under my eyes
I resent mirrors for they reflect my kingdom in demise
Every night I crave her embrace, I wait for her tender touch
Sleep was once a dear friend, but now she doesn't visit much
And so I drag my numbered days along me on this deserted road
Sailing alone on an uncharted sea with no one else with me on board
They call me a warrior, a fighter, they give me labels of all kinds
But beneath all these accolades I know their pity hides
My turmoil inside boils and burns, but I don't ever let it show
I have crafted a peaceful visage, my misery they'll never know
These simpletons around me, they are all too gullible
I have them all fooled, their naivety is risible
But inside I'm crumbling, I'm hollowing within
Being gnawed perniciously right beneath my skin
My saviors stroll in and out, angels donned in their all white
Poking and piercing my skin, then my fate in cryptic words they write
At their mercy I lay, but they give me hope and a reason to smile
A daily ritual our tryst is that makes the needles worthwhile
In the distance I hear their chatter, in hushed tones they whisper my name
Deeming me unaware of my dismal fate, but I know it all the same
My days I spend smoldering away on my own reminiscing
With the clock ticking fast, every second now seems like a blessing
Unrealized dreams haunt all my nights, my fragile heart rends
But I find peace for one way or another, my misery soon ends
I try reasoning but the Universe's plans make no sense
I wonder if I'm a sinner, if this is my comeuppance
But everyone is a sinner, they're everywhere I see
Why am I condemned yet those sinners roam free?
If fate is an arbiter then it judges unfairly
It blesses some sinners, punishes others severely
But I still find some comfort in its unjust plans for me
For I have suffered too long, now I'll finally be free
.
.
.
The year though passed had left me its souvenir of debility
But in the new one I found hope, I saw possibility
I embraced the New Year and all the good omens it brought
My suffering gave way to the solace I'd long sought
For on New Year's Eve, my hopes finally saw fruition
As the angels in white told me I was in remission!
