Cauchemar

I walk beside them,
Failure, loss and regret.
An idol to them I build,
And worship at their shrines.

I prattle on knees bleeding and torn,
For fear of deserving the trinity’s scorn.

I, the architect of my demise,
Stand before the doom I devised.
Breathless, all life torn away,
Smothered and still, a solemn decay.

I nurtured these infants,
As they were forced upon me. 
They will harbour you, dear,
Keep your sorrows away.

So I feed them and feed them,
'Till my marrow sucked dry,
And naught but darkness remains,
In the clearest, blue sky.

Yet now I look upon them,
See them for what they truly be.
A figment, a construct,
A specter that was, of no import to me.

I step through the maw,
Frozen and still.
The true world now beckons,
Just over this hill. 

Fear.
A mechanism that exists to keep us safe, yet becomes a source of paralysis when given too much agency.
We then begin wallowing in our dark thoughts, until we doubt everything we would do, seeing only risk and tribulation wherever we go.
Afraid to act freely and careless, we feel our inner selves contract and shrink as we try to shield ourselves from losing the things we hold dear.

And life starts to slip through our fingers, and passes us by.

Don't let your fears–much less the fears of others–guide you on your path.
They are ill advisors, and will lead only to the loss of your inner wealth.

In honour of taking
the first step through the gate.