The life itself

Born to be the rock
the placeholder on the life
rather than the life itself
he knew nothing else
nothing but remaining as he was
steady and firm
not really a person, but a place
to come back to again and again

Such was his lot in life
and not a bad place to be
he never lacked friends
for someone always needs
to return to where things never change
and had he not met her,
he would still be that place today

She saw right away what he was
and what he had been made to be
by those around him who needed him
but did not want to give back
equal to what they took

She asked how he lived like that
and his response:
"live like what?"
shook her to her very core
and inside her heart
at that very moment, she vowed
to show him how to be the life itself,
not the placholder on the life

She took him dancing
in the rain at 2 am.
She took him to the carnival
and demanded that he win the games he played
She took him on a hike
somewhere she'd never been
But her ultimate goal
was to get him out of his little town
and down the open road

He was confused, for the first time in his life
this woman made him happy
the very thought of her made him smile
but his friends, they hated her
asked him who was she to say
how he should live
and contantly reminded
that they had been there first


He was getting tired
of the pressure to stay
getting itchy to see all the things she spoke of
and so early one morning
he kissed his mother goodbye
got in his car and drove away
His mother watched him go
and as the tailights faded from view,
she said
"go my son, go and finally be the life itself
you were never meant to be life's placeholder"