I want to shine but I'm tarnished,

lifeless and dull.

It seems to me like there ain't many miles left

in these old bones.

Old mistakes keep haunting me

like unwelcome friends.

Changed my name. Moved far away.

Yet they found me once again.

What must we do to escape it?

This trap we set for ourselves.

I long to be different.

I'm striving to be.

An improved version of myself.

Maybe that's all the answer.

Any of us needs.

A desire to improve.

The will to change.

Someday that could set us free..

I've grappled with good and evil.

My duality is no stranger to me.

I will strive to be a better man.

That's all I know how to be.

Once we give in to selfish nature.

Evil can become our true self.

But no one realizes the depths of a man.

Maybe even not ourselves.

Phil G. Inman Sr.

April 2010