It’s hard to accept
Every ache
And a mirror with
Overnight changes
When the days themselves
Become static
Like another lost soul
Going numb

Where nothing exists
Beyond sameness
As dreams once held
Appear monochrome
Against colorful lives
Getting younger
Comparing those paints
Far apart

On our canvas
Smaller than God
Now contained in flesh
Claustrophobic
Beneath finite stars
Growing faded
Like these darkened streaks
Below eyes

Whose jagged folds
Tell their stories
About seeking love
Over lifetimes
Enduring each threat
Heaven dangles
Through illness and death
Always near

Since agony comes
Even quicker
Despite what attempts
Remain desperate
Making money for work
Never ending
Just so torture evades
Feeling whole

Meaning little but fear
Called success
Denies this truth
More hilarious
How human belief
Merely placates
Being born
Though we’re already old.

• J. Pigno