The Phillips Anthology

The American Dream

“One step, two step, three step, four...” - my first memory since the breath of life.

My mother’s hands dancing along my fingers whilst the sun glared at me.

And as I felt the release of

Entrapment, I felt the wings of freedom taking me forward.

Each step I make, change takes its place

“A small fish in a big pond”

That was what my mother once said.

She was my comfort unlike the pig that was once called

‘Father’.

I would hold her soft hands as I reached the prison for the mind.

My grip would get tighter, yet our closeness grew distant.

All the bloody things in this world that I had to put up with,

A drunken ‘father’,

And a mother who would not stand up for her own son.

Enough of this.

I left the house and made a life of my own.

The street lamps followed me and the shadows creeped up on me

and I soon entered the shelter of a friend I would later call wife.

I escaped the prison for the mind and

Entered the prison of freedom.

I loved life.

A beautiful wife, incredible children and a job beyond satisfactory

Who could want any more?

Curiosity got the best of me.

I answered the question. I took the risk.

Bang!

Within a flash, all was gone.

Now I lie on my death bed.

I made a mistake and lost my treasures.

All to do is make the last... few... breaths...

As the needle slowly enters my being,

All that’s left is to remember life’s

little pleasures.