The Breaking
Nathaniel Allen
5/30/2020-3/18/2021
You’ll never win; you never have
Why do you even try
You are nothing without me
And I will be you until you die
You sing so many songs to your friends
About how this is not the end
But you can’t even go a day
Without at least pondering the way
That I can make you feel
How I can relight your zeal
For the things that you believe
For just how much you hate me
And why is that exactly
Because I don’t really think it’s true
If you truly hated me you would leave
But you act as though you love me
God, you are all of me
Keep telling yourself that
I’m sure you feel better when you pray
When you use the words from the songs you sing
We both know your words ring hollow
Upon the ears of the God you claim to follow
As if you could speak for someone like him
Who hung the very stars while the sky was dim
You don’t even believe the things you write
You struggle so hard to get all of them right
Afraid that you’ll misrepresent what God said
That you’ll say something wrong and lose all of your friends
From the lack of faith you see in your own life
That something you say will lead others astray
And you won’t be able to take the words back
Or that someone you love will fall through the cracks
Stop trying so hard, Nate it’s okay
The world will burn with or without your say
You could never write or say a single worthwhile thing
At least not while I’m still here inside of you thriving
Where do you think you would even be without me
So much of your work has been born out of the pain I cause you
If I hadn’t hurt you, your perspective on the world would be so boring
How could you abhor the things of this world if there wasn’t already some part of yourself you lived abhorring
How could you love the ones around you if I hadn't shown you what love is not
There is so much in your heart you are so desperately convicted of
But none of it rings true while you cling onto me
And hold me in your soul
And therein lies the folly of your existence
Without me you are nothing but empty words
And with me the words you say are given credence
But you live the life of a hypocrite