I Am Useless

No longer am I that bright, outspoken girl
with eyes alight with zeal
ablaze with every word leaked
out of her eaglet mind.

No longer do I hold a tongue sharp, a thirsty shark
as I have begun to worship the patriarch
of materialism, capitalism and all the other
-isms, and have neglected the talent of criticism,
having given up on the challenge
to fashion this broken world
to its former glory.

No longer am I writing my own story, as
I am now a drab imitation of all the countless other lives
sitting unread on a dust ridden bookshelf.

I have lost her,
that feral child who danced
shoeless on wild grass...

I am useless.