Caged beneath my skin

The sight of life around goes bland.

My eyes are heavy—

I crave to stay in my dreams all day,

yet I hate to sink into my demise,

where every light is hard to catch

And each hour slips too fast.

Replaying the smile I once had—

not too hard to form—

But now I’ve shrunk into my shell,

where nothing seems to matter.

The spark is too dim to light.

The whispers in my head sing,

trying to bestow me with a destiny.

Still, I try to stand

in this locked bunk of scars—

but I fall into the abyss I cloaked.

Every word strains on my tongue, too heavy to form.

I wonder if I’m lost.

Every day feels heavier than it should,

a ghost living in the cage of my skin.

Every smile, a blatant lie.

Yet in the darkness I sink into,

lies a quiet kind of peace I crave.

Perhaps I’ve lost my way,

Or maybe I’m just stuck in this array of light

that grows dimmer each day.

And every walk of delight passes me by,

just like time does.

I reach for words

to hold what I feel more deeply,

but my head pounds.

The words rattle inside,

caged—

just like me.