crave approval from those who matter not
lust for any validation of my worth
rapacious pursuit of praise which quickly rots
fills me with angst, stolen joy, absent mirth
dismiss you, shun your unchained devotion
a wound heals, rendered anew, your blood stains
your skin; my venom kills, no emotion
the beast, ego, yoked: it and i, steel chain
misappropriation of ambition
a pandemic for the most privileged
deceptively toxic, no remission
the remnants of love bled dry, hemorrhaged
greed for the temporal, not knowing why
cultural perversion, lost you, my sky