The Underside of Society

by Rjwillis

January 12, 2014

Misted rain and wet pavements

Humming heaters and rotting leaves

Pant seams darkened, a dampened mess.

Shuffled movements and needing reprieve

Muscles weak and throat tender flesh

Heaving lungs and leddened feet.

Shoulders hide you eyes path behind you

Not wanting to know what you'll meet

You're alone among all mortals,

But together as the the created

Shining brows and pumping arms.

Faster and faster steps debated

Turning corners, dodging boxes

Alleyways and sirens beckon

They follow your every echoed footfalls

Proximity as leverage lessens

You beg to your creator

Stop! And yield your power to me.

Because the light's become the dark

And the dark yields me safety

Challenged by society and thus limited

The waves of light are reflected,

Pools of water dapper with your sight

But your fear propels you, rejected

You made that wrongly conceived turn

That misstep among the world's dark corner

Life could have been so full and light

If you knew then, you could have been surer

Keep walking with your laced up shoes

Your coat and hair in need of washing

Don't see those people just like you

Invisible and unneeded, society squashing

Dingy and so full of no hope

You failed every test and challenge

Limited to those oppressive powers

And shrouded with no glimmering talent

Taken as an example away from what is wanted,

What you see is what you get

You're blind and deaf, they say

While they're the ones forcing you're ears split

Slower steps and gasping lungs

You fail to look around you

And you're thinking of why you're running

And who you're running to.

Mirrors turn, staring unabashedly back

Lights blink out and the world does fade

Because you find who you were running from

Was the one who you betrayed...

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Rjwillis

I go to an arts magnet school in Nashville, Tennessee, where I focus on visual arts. I am a health nut and constantly looking for the latest health journals and exercise related news. I was raised around my fathers business of selling plants and raising livestock, while having an English teacher as a mother. I volunteer every opportunity I am able, though in the past few year I've had to cut back because I needed extra time to study for the advance placement classes I've been taking. I am a member of Steve's Club Nashville, a nonprofit branch of CrossFit for teens, where I hope to get my level one certification soon. I always try to be happy in any surrounding because I know I am blessed to be there when other haven't been as lucky. I want to make a difference in the world, though I have no clue yet of how that will happen. I'd be happy being like the story of the starfish, where I make a difference just to a few.

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