“A Lover, Nor a Fighter”

I thought you were a fighter, but you couldn’t take the hits

We all get knocked down sometimes

But the last time you fell, you didn’t even bother to get back up

You just laid there twitching and let life slip away

You thought you were a soldier, but you’re just a babe in arms

Carried through life on a broke-back mule that you’ve neglected to feed

So, you say you’re a writer now? Or a poet? Or a painter?

The last I looked, you couldn’t see the big picture if you stood outside the frame

You said you were a lover once

And I remember that, too

But now your bed is cold and dry, and your pillows hard and flat

I heard you just laid down and gave up the fight

Well, you gave up long ago, and the rest of us knew it

I’m glad we had the chance to catch up

And I’m glad you finally caught on, too

But you’ll still go through life with blinkers on your eyes, like some lame horse that doesn’t know when its number is up

And now you think you’ve won the battle

But you’ve nothing left to show for it

You’ve surrounded yourself with losers who pretend to be your friends

They feed on your pain and sorrow

They laugh when you are down

You extended your hand to feed them, and they chewed it to the bone

They ate up all your lies and spit it in your face

And now your arm is just a bloody stump

And still, you never learn

—David Allen