Lost

Not a boy he is a man     But the negative reinforcement
has  convinced the elephant he is     not allowed outside
the circle of his pigeonholing   He is not a chicken   he is
a hawk   but weights braided into his wings   assure him
he cannot fly   Instead of game   he pecks at fallen seed
from humans tables    Faint hope of winning lotto marks
a threadbare link to the living   as    he keeps his stories
snacks on the desserts of pleasant memory  to mitigate
the pressures   of more tormenting thoughts   that wear
the soul down  like a punctured tire   holding out for the
nearest checkpoint     like in those videogames   except
this isn’t a game    This result of   lacking the emotional
fortitude    to play the impersonal ball    Some of us just
don’t want to esteem   mind    over matters of the heart