life is a competition,
but no one really wins.
we overachieve.
set our goals too high.
and after all the effort,
end up farther back than square one.
we pile work upon work for ourselves.
we fake it till we make it,
but do we ever make it?

once the lights go out,
black envelops the machine that never stops.
not even when we sleep.
tears put out the electric fire that burned the socket.
and within the blackness that is my mind,
you can hear a sizzling sound,
until the backup generator kicks in
and we begin to run again.