No More Corners

A fool’s mantra is pressed home in optimistic tones
as you doll yourself up for a night of untold promise.
“You never know what’s around the corner.”

My lips curve into a smile before I laugh the laugh
you want to hear when I really just break down inside.
“I have no more corners to turn.”

You begin to tell me of the revival of your fortunes
and how hope has returned to a once hopeless cause.
“I used to think like you, but look at me now.”

Then I silence your scoffs as I systematically prove how
my inadequacy has contributed to my four failings.
“I have covered every inch of this square.”

The light in your eyes refuses to dim in the shadow
of this reality as you believe in forgiving and forgetting.
“You just gotta let go and move on.”

But I explain how my circumstance has me boxed
inside this suffocating world of routine so mundane.
“I have nowhere to move on to.”

And we both agree that time is the ruler of all things
and that I just have to bide the seconds I have left.
“But why should I wait when nothing awaits me?”