The future is a thing with wolf-teeth

waiting to swallow me whole.

I cling desperately onto each present moment,

creating life rafts out of seconds

trying to hold myself afloat as time pulls me under the currents.

There’s something paralyzing about losing time;

each moment gone too soon,

slipping out of my grasp,

hurtling me towards my inevitable doom and the end of all things.

Nothing is ever enough.

I am never enough.

It’s terrifying to be laughing with friends,

haunted by the thought that, one day,

                            This will all be over.

All the care and love that surrounds us

will wither away from neglect as we drift apart,

find new waters to swim in, new oceans to cross

and all that will be left is a ghost of the good times.

I don’t want anything to end.

And so, the future is terrifying in that all it holds,

is loss and regret, heartbreaking nostalgia,

endless endings.

The ever constant ticking of a clock rings out in my nightmares,

mocking me, shouting:

        Time’s up! Time’s up!

In my dreams, I break clocks and hourglasses,

mixing the numbers with sand in my own equation to create eternity.

Wolves howl behind me but I care little for them when I have a dragon’s heart.

This is a fear that will never leave me.

This is a fear that will never defeat me.

I stare down the sunset and wait for dawn,

fighting and snarling and doing all I can to hold on just a little longer

to cherish what little time I have.

The future is terrifying, yes,

but I am stronger than fear and despite it all,

I will carve a future worth fighting for out of this stone

with nothing but my bare hands and a will stronger

than steel.