I was once like you

Once I had dreams.
Big goals places to see.
Worlds to conquer.
The galaxy was finite
And it could be mine.

The taste of victory
Was as sweet as honey.
Teardrops belonged
In the eyes of another.
Success was a birthright
I was once trampling
 on the bodies of the fallen.

Apartments became condos.
condos became houses.
Houses became mansions.
I built Jacobs ladder.
To reach heaven from earth.
Without dying.

I once gave money to charity?
Not for the poor.
I did not care for them.
They were a vehicle
A footstep  to redemption.
I gave it for me
For my ego

That was then.
This is now.
I walk the dark streets 
of nowhere.
Eyes glare at me 
Like the night eyes of cats.
My unshaven face
Lost in oblivion.
Everything I once owned
Falling in on me
Like rain through a leaking roof.

My companions are
Loneliness 
Want and despair.
It did not seem possible.
But life sends changes
In moments.
It’s hard to believe.
I was once like you.
So very much like you.