Rapid Cycling

There is nothing that I cannot do,
Except that I find everything too difficult
My fierce ambition and driving pride
Are wrecked upon the jagged shoals of despair
Short lengths of flotsam once again connected as a ship
For the hull to be pierced once more on the breakers

Stray thoughts careen drunkenly through
The tangled, unsuitable field of my brain
Leaving a wake of wretched seeds of doubt –
That are destined to flourish
And scaffolding for towering pillars of ambition –
That are doomed to collapse

The common man falls on his face
To wail at his bloodied nose and stand again.
I rise up to the heights as a Phoenix, until my Prometheus wings melt
I hurtle from on high to the uncaring ground, crushed
From the painful depth I gather myself, crumb upon crumb, ash upon ash
Until once again I fly, destined to taste afresh the ashes of oblivion

(Not to worry, I am not in this place so much right now. Just call this a memoir and some-time spectre.)