I am stronger
and my hide
is thicker
and I have been
tempered by so
much
more
which I why I
will let this
one go.
I am tired of hoping
to be something
that I
never was.
Holding your
breath for
so long makes
you faint
and fall
into the hole
that you tread
by walking the
floors for so
many nights.
I am tougher than
them all
it is just that
I must hold myself
back or
the tether
will break
and I will
be lost in the
bottom
of the world.
--- Tanaka Ryuichi