You create a state of crisis
Through your self-neglect
And effective self-sabotage
I pick up the pieces
Drawing from and lending to you
My Life Force
Which is intact
Because of my self-devotion
Relentless pursuit of
All that is positive and healthy
I do the hard work
Take the risks
Make the changes
Put the rubber to the road
While you dream and pretend
And build obstacles around yourself
Then cry out “I can’t”
Citing disability and inability
While comparing yourself to me
Through a lens
That is blind to
Everything I have done
And that you can do
To develop the capacity
I have always shared
Everything
Even as you resented and actively hated me
For my knowledge talent devotion
And I’m still happy to share
But only if you do the work
I am tired angry worn out
And starting to feel resentful
Of the way you constantly
Pull at me extract from me
Take my life
To breathe your breath
Until I have nothing left
And collapse in your sinking boat
Crying out with you
“I can’t”
©2017 by Loolwa Khazzoom. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be copied without author’s permission.
