Evermore

Evermore.

There were years I built in silence,

in rooms no one walked into,

where the only voice was the one that said,

Stop. This goes nowhere. You know this.

I know that voice. You do too.

It shows up after the third rejection, the failed launch, the pitch that went silent, the friend who stopped calling back.

It sounds reasonable.

It sounds like wisdom.

Cut your losses. Be realistic. Enough.

And some nights I believed it.

Sat with it like an old guest who'd overstayed but knew where the glasses were.

But here's the thing about that voice: it's never once built anything.

Never once stayed up until 4am because something mattered too much to sleep.

It only knows how to count what's missing.

So I stopped arguing with it. I just...

Outlasted it.

Not heroically. Not with speeches.

Just one more morning.

One more attempt that probably wouldn't work.

Until one did.

And here I am.

The shadow's still there some days, but I am not under it.

Most days.

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted.

Evermore!

Art: SamB, 2024