Comparison replaces optimism,
one plus one
never equals two;
personal roadmaps to freedom
forever lead on to dead-ends.

Testing my limitations
resulted in a failing grade;
no definitions of success
born unto me,
only the erroneous answers
live within my soul's borders.

I cannot love ---
that emotion long-ago dehydrated,
the dusty remnants settled
no life can grow from within.

Sometimes I try to be
as the sponge-like creature
that once was born,
ever-absorbing notions of humanity,
filtering out the impurities,
ever being refreshed by new experiences.

But me, this sponge,
now forever dried into a lifeless shape,
unable to absorb the life-moisture
of human interaction,
pores forever closed in both directions ---incapable of life-like form.