UNLESS YOUR MUSCLES ARE REMOVED

what
doesnt
kill
you
makes you stronger

they say

and 
lifes blind smacks 
that knot your heart undoable
and
machines built to help us 
that break us and tear us
and
the awful demands of relentless time 
that pounds on the brainbone
may 
bolster
some 
of 
us 
to heroes

but 
others
turn it the wrong way 
and
hold stumbling blocks as gossip trophies
justifying
meanness 
resentment 
and 
exemption

and 
thats
not
strong
at
all