What's Keeping Me Here (Poetry)

Again, last night I
didn’t sneak away
though I wish I’d done —
cut life’s sticky cords
and gone on the run ...

Is it apathy
that binds me more than
conscience ever could
or lack of faith I’d
make it through the wood?

This familiar trap
tangles me in doubt
years have stripped away
the urge to break out —
old energies sapped

Yet thoughts of escape
recur — nudge and bite
unsettle the nerves
and goad the whole night
soul-tossed and awake

I yearn to be gone
but lack what it takes
while instinct’s sly voice
suggests I am wrong —
here’s where I belong