The Voice Of Shame

Shame,

that toxic,

corrosive,

hopeless, 

bleak,

dead inside,

place of despair

and ruin

that I walk around with all the time.

Some days it’s in my face,

some days it’s on the periphery

and some days it seems nonexistent, 

but it is always, always lurking under the surface,

just waiting,

seeking a new excuse, 

a new reason,

a new way

to tell me how bad I am, 

how I don’t measure up,

and how I will fail, 

no matter how hard I try.