Prompt: Write a sonnet (14-line poem that rhymes)

42

It takes the strength of many to be first,
the prayers of others to be the only.
With each. you witness humanity’s worst
while self-doubt plagues your nights long and lonely.

Your rage and failure is what they expect
in response to their spit and ridicule.
You will never get praise, awe, or respect,
especially when you win by their rules.

You crisscross disparate worlds seamlessly
charging ahead though the path is unclear.
Why does a man choose this dichotomy—
star on the field, but exiled to the rear?

Black and white united each time you’d swing,
but blind to the depths of your suffering.

~Pamela L. Taylor © 2013