Feel Alive

Inspired by "c'mon!" by Ross Gay

He is not the fire that burns all it can find

Or the ash that nulls the growth at the root

He is not the light that blooms the trees

Or the soil that feeds the life

Or the river; he cannot change

Or the leaves; he will not grow

He is not the wolf, Nor the deer, Nor the spiders, Nor the flies

He’s a termite, and one alone

Gnawing, feasting, decaying us from the inside out
Invisible, eternal, unfixable

Yet those that lean on me see the damage that was wrought

As I collapse under the slightest pressure, and they tumble down with me

I cannot blame him, for a termite has to eat

I’m to blame for daring to sprout

I hope he can forgive me

Author's Note

I was inspired by "c'mon!" to write a piece about someone that opens with narrowing down what they're NOT, mostly because it helped sort through my own feelings to figure out exactly what I wanted to say.