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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