He Forgot the Reason

He  struggled home
towards half-remembered
hills
the ills of the world
heaped  upon his back

and all he had gained
through experience
had been  lost in the
heat of the fight

so  that what he made  ••
up  for in weight
cancelled-out the effort
it took

to carry all that work and time
and the ageing effect combined
to accentuate
the fact

that he'd forgotten
the original ache
he  started with

and once
had wanted  to fill
with life.

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