By Jordan Heide

Dust settles beneath my eyes,
Inflaming the tender skin that loathes my discerning mind.
I cringe, I shudder - but I do not cry,
For tears intensify the pain that resides.

One finger, I use, to obliterate this grime,
But further it is ingrained into my embittered rind.
The burn abounds like a blazing inferno,
Emaciating traces of my innocence, pitiless, pro bono.

Water, I seek, to reinstate my naivete,
But tainted, it was, with despair and pain.
Agony persists, I retaliate to disgrace
The vengeful sadism of a force earnest to exterminate.

Anguish subsides; I've awakened bliss.
Resilience, fortitude, profundity persist.
My flesh, parched, denotes the determination within.
And beckons a warrior, once remiss.