Selfless Bastard

Panting, gasping, running

Away. Away. Away.

Eyes wide

Fear, ravaging my body.

Neurons firing a million a second,

sending sirens, warning, to the billowy

degradation and desperation gnawing in my gut.



How did it find me? I worry.

Why can it catch me? I panic.

Isn’t there anyone else to take? I plea.



The air-smothering curtain drapes over me.

My face.

My heart.

My soul.

It over takes my entire being.



There is

no escape.



Finally, I stop.

Catch my breath.

Stare into the mirror,

tears welling in my eyes.

My cheeks, gaunt.

My lips curled into a displeasing sneer.

The life behind my eyes fade.



I am alone.

Behind me, isolation.

In the mirror, seclusion.



A brief sigh of relief.



Then I remember.

Age is always lurking in the darkest corners.

Awaiting to squash

my childhood,

my teens,

my twenties.



Selfless bastard.