Illusory images in my mind
I separate from conception
Bringing back what was once gone
The fear, the stress
The anxiety strangling my brain
Nothing else seems to exist
When a project comes to hand

The atmosphere that draws me in
Stripping me of my youth
A book has all the answers
To the success I never had
Every scrap of work
Is refined to its perfection
As flaws take their toll
On my valuable night sleep

As standards are set, to intangible heights
My wrinkles branch
Leaving cracks and creases
Eyes veined with smudges of bloody red
I’m immersed in fatigue

Compelled to withdraw
My body screams of aches
The grades, competition
The drive to be the best
Are dragged away from my reach
As I fall unconscious