expectations

expectations have this inimitable way

of crushing us, of weighing us down

set for ourselves they become this

virtual prison, concertina wire, high walls

not in reality but existing nonetheless

then we have expectations set by others

are they more or less leaden to our soul

any less implosive to us than the very depths

of the deepest, darkest, ocean trenches

how do we ever break free and soar

how do we shed the shackles of societal 

expectations as well, the worst of them all

find the way to just exist and be happy