Once this sentence expires
will it matter if they
believe in me once more
like they did when life vested me
with credibility and peace?

Will I be thankful
if they dust off my back
and they deem me competent
like one of them —
albeit tainted or susceptible,
never the same again
should I recover?

Will their sympathy
or misguided admiration
matter to me
with the truth I can’t surrender
now knowing what I know?

Will I ever take their hand
or do I embrace this fate?