illustrious

i remember all the promise
that i held like a firefly
caught in childish hands
set free again
believing it would fly
but perhaps i gripped too hard
for i fear that youthful prospects
now have died
or flit but limpingly and low
the illustrious future once i dreamed
somehow unfulfilled and full of woe
and in such thoughts
i cannot see the sky
the world is cloaked
in fog of dread
i struggle with the weight
of forging on ahead knowing not
where next to set each step
and measure out my tread
bewildered by a path i cannot see
but still the onward march
and trust that somewhere
further down the road
the light will grow
and winds will blow away
the smog surrounding me