Hope, once warm and comforting,
Turns to blistering hot coals of dismay.
Confidence, a hearty nourishment for the journey -- departs --
Leaving indigestible stones in the stomach pit.
The course, formerly sure and indisputable:
Darkened, briar covered, and impassable.
Success, the prize of a certain future;
Disintegrates into leaden failure,
Cold, hard, and final.
A dream's death could bring demise.
Passing seems a sweet escape,
But not by one's own hand.
A broken heart might stop though;
Too loving and trusting for this cruel place.