Fire

It streaks down, speeding like a deer
I do what I do, I run
They said I’ll do fine
If this is fine
I pity the ones who do badly

They said try again
Did it work?
No.
Falling feels terrible.

Third time’s the charm, they said
Charm?
Lost it harder than before.

For the fourth time they had no words
Yet I tried one more time
I needed peace

For years I thought
That if I fought
The one thing that I had sought
I wouldn’t be caught

Right now, I’m drowning
In people treating me like a king
They want something from me
They think that is what I can’t see

They make me tire
But I know that they’ll set me on fire
Everything rising must fall
Flames will take what stands tall

The first time, I tried and tried.
I found no money, and cried.
My shop closed, and I fell
But I knew better than to tell

The second time, too, I failed
My ships had sailed
Far and wide
Only for nothing to come to where I reside

The third time, I grew plants
Basil and thyme
But nothing arose
I had nothing but a gardening hose

But it was the fourth that was the worst
For it was the fourth that I became cursed
By money, power, and fame
I wish my life had stayed the same

But no, I knew better
Than to not let them chatter
Because even if I had such a desire
I knew that they’d set me on fire

And it was that fateful night
When flames broke my fight
I gave in
And told them to stop the din

I knew that I would tire
Yet I sat back and let them set me on fire
There would not have been a situation so dire
If my heart had been of fire