These Invincible People

I cannot comprehend how they do it

These invincible people

that work sixty hours a week

that arrive home

wash their dishes

walk the dog

that still hold smiles on their faces at the end of the day

that still ask their children how they are at night

that read them stories

before going to bed for four hours

only to get up and do it all again

Even those that drink until the sun rises

and when they awake an hour later

they drive to work still drunk and sweat away the hangover

they never seem to mutter to themselves or think repeatedly

how they must quit this job

how they must rest their bruised feet

Where do these people keep their sorrow?

Where can I buy such strength?

Merely claiming my existence

To breathe every day I struggle

These invincible people surround me

Perhaps I am not willing to pay their membership fee

perhaps I do not possess what they carry with them

to and from work

into and out of bed

perhaps it takes years to gain such momentum

It’s a present I’m not sure I want to receive

I may be incapable of not weeping upon ripping the paper from this gift

surely the world would crumble without these invincible people

surely I ride upon their backs

as even my greatest efforts seem, in comparison, of great sloth

they make me look bad

these invincible people

and at times I feel they are the sled dogs being whipped by lesser mammals

while I would prefer to stay off the trail entirely

to freeze to death

these invincible people burn as a flame in the dark

and these invincible people cannot help but light my way