Contest – Written Monday 5th January 2026 (Aged 50)

Contest

Spent a life
wrestling with who I am —
me,
in the ring.
Doubt and insecurity
edge towards the edge,
and I dip all my candles
in modernist sin,
watching hopes
crawl out of a hapless tip.
Spent a life
being close to the knuckle,
as jokes land flat
and my personality
shows evidence of buckle,
with noticeable sag.
Finding rooms
is a mixed result —
as parts of you are lifted up,
but then,
your knees are always dragged
across asphalt.
So I sit
on my collapsible deckchair,
knowing
there is a faint scent in the air.
But I have spent a lifetime
wrestling with who I am —
but it’s a contest
that hardly seems fair.

James Garratt – Monday 5th January 2026

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https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/2020/01/08/the-boy-behind-the-glasses-an-introduction/

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https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/category/poems-and-writing-2026/