Margin

A desert is all life has been

With dry eyes and flaking skin.

I shield myself from the star above,

The fiery orb that beats on my back;

That burns anything black.

It’s inescapable grains

Stick to the feet that thump against the ground.

As I have nothing to do but walk and look around.

Then I gaze upon a rustling grove,

My heart widens and fills with hope.

I run, yearning for green blades to tickle my feet.

Maybe there I will feel complete.

A life that’s calm and sweet.

But then the earth starts to shake.

I slowly reel as my heart breaks.

A wall rises, darkening the skies.

People sit above, they smile and boast,

Giving me a passing glance at most.

My feet clamber and my calluses bleed

As I climb the wall with unrelenting speed.

Yet they look down and jeer.

Their eyes squint with malice and mouths in a sneer.

Their stares a suffocating weight,

Still, and full of hate.

The wall is raised too high above my head,

But I refuse to not try before I’m dead.

My hands grow weak and I begin to fall.

Maybe if I ran faster I would’ve had it all;

The buzz of life and the sun’s soft gleam

Lush green meadows and crystalline streams.

Now I can do nothing but scream.