the lessons we are to learn from

life has a way some
times of punching
you in the mouth
so hard that you
taste the blood
days later

i used to believe
that these moments
were the lessons
we are to learn
from

but as i have grown
older i now look at
such occasions as
simply life

this is what it is

being blindsided

being tortured

being tricked into
god knows what

this is the cost
of living

if you don’t want
to pay your dues

either get lucky and
be born to the right
family

or choose death long
before you become
some miserable fuck
living with your
mother well into
your thirties

Poem taken from Big Hammer No. 15 published by Iniquity Press/Vendetta Books