your blood rushes magmatic

vascular filaments ignited

‘neath less than

two millimeters of flesh

–

confidence betrays you

eyes lowered

a subtle act of humility

submission

–

so close

you can smell it

taste it

flit it with an eager tongue

–

rigid protrusion of inadequacy

prodding your flaccid ego

penetrating your self-image

sowing fertile seeds of doubt

–

taking root

subdued within the fibrous vines of abstraction

bound to their will

placed beneath them

–

absorbing the full length of the shadow cast

your own dwarfed

bashful in its presence pink

wilting before its firmness

–

spurning your individuality

your stunted growth

shrinking

frail

–

impotent in the face of virility

exposed in your softness

its mass magnifying

your smallness

–

quivering masochistically

in the chastening euphoria

of never measuring up