Carve out this thing within me

This great, dark lump;

Carve out this festering stone

That seeks to pull a man down;

Tear open the dry rib cage

And rip away, rip away, rip away

This endless wellspring

That floods my body so

That I could drown if not for the air

That slips past and fills my lungs;

Cut away this beating pest

This false,  sick source of life

That I might become a grey man

A character from a Dicken’s novel

Who can stand and watch the worst of us

Without even a breath, a tear, or even fear

That all things end in fire.