Chained To Life
I am chained to life
Tethered by the weight of family
Tied down by expectations that never end
Dragged down to earth
Pressured by a clock of excellence
My fingers owned, my body theirs to order
My will inside, a mechanism to be discarded
and ignored
My passions funneled like a machine
Into the endlessness of productivity
— never let up, never let go
I, the puppet execute my twirl
and do what’s forced upon me
I am both dancer and droid
who fulfills my given role.
Live and outlive those before me
Work and out work those I’m told
I must compete against.
For an exit is not an option,
Not even when I am dead.
Hello! We’re D.J. Hoskins
We are Davena and Jason Hoskins, co-authors of 30+ books and siblings who write under the pseudonym D.J. Hoskins. Three years apart and in our twenties, we have been fascinated by stories from a young age. Davena is a student attending Princeton University, and Jason attends Georgetown University.
