Sneers.

Stares.

Glacial glares

untie his shoes

and pull his hair.

The bane that crushes,

and muffles his dreams

confounds him.

It stays put below the will to make his way

to the zenith of his victory.

His persistence substantiates

with every step

up the road

less traveled by.

For the breathing shadows

and itchy whispers

were too much for the ones before

to bare.

Too scared.

So now

eyelashes kiss eyelashes

as he ascends on

past the belaboring billows of surveillance.

He refuses to become an effigy

in his lonely journey.

He knows that his efforts will someday prevail.

Around some corner beholds

the hallowed home

of his heart.