Seeking validation, affection denied
Crawling for sympathy, decency defied
Shunned & left behind as all hope has dried

Caught deep within desperation
Deteriorating since the beginning
Barely able to stand on two feet
All my pride must be dead

To lift my head up high...
Would be suicide
My everlasting despair...
I cannot hide

Forlorn throughout bleak days
Sorrow enraptured
Stuck in a rut of dismay
Invisible as a ghost
Reality has long gone astray

Finding hope is trivial
There's none to be had
Cursed to exist in a hopeless world
With death always a certainty

Helpless as I grow older
Each year that reaches its conclusion...
Like a closing of a chapter
One segment of life closer to the end
One chapter can feel like an eternity
The diseased hands of death turning the page
Eerily & drearily pleased
Grimacing toward my existence

© Cody Shull, 2018