i feel the lick
of the lashes
as the inexplicable whips
of rancid understanding
leave lines
of bloody reminders
down the length
of my ability
to verbalize
this nauseating truth
the blissful ignorance
of a life
left painless
long since discarded
with childhood fantasies
in the ditch
of stagnant refusals
it is a form
of acceptance
this rejection of reality
for the homespun lies
of youthful indiscretions