A Cursed Life

I'm finding it difficult 

as I always have 

to love 

I walk through places and I absorb 

everything

But I cannot enjoy

I am a sponge 

I take in all the lovely and vile

But all I can taste is the burnt

soot while

all the liquid gems seep away

I do not expect greatness from anything

What I am good at is this:

I anticipate the faults of the masses

I see heartbreak sauntering from a distance 

I hear cries in dark places before the darkness has descended

I know 

and I feel

the putrid livelihood of all things

The tepid waters in which we immerse ourselves

in our futile attempts to cleanse

There is a part of you that pulls you down 

That is all of me

I am a sunken boat

I am a silent sea shell

I am marrowless

I am gravity