I wrestle dreams that I dread
Numbness spreads within my head.
I will smile, play the part
But slowed is a damaged heart.
Pretending to be alright
While shadows swallow my light.
Laugh on cue, hide what I feel
Standing when I want to kneel.
Lasting, this battle I fight
While withering through the night.
No place, person, have I found
To keep my peace above ground.
Breaking, no space for my cries
This pain carried tells me lies.
Lost in a crowd that won't see
That this world is killing me.
Surrounded, with no one there
Suffocating, fears I bare.
Words that are light, weigh me down
Secrets causing me to drown.
Sadness dampens every sound
Each step, a new failure found.
Love stole away, without trace
Scars knotted, like hardened lace.
I begged, they all looked away
Disregarded, my truths stay.
If I were gone, would they care
Or fill my space with dead air?
Loss leathered a second skin
Tragic war, never to win.
I'm not stable, they are blind
To shattered wants, tired mind.
No single being understands
None hold me, no gentle hands.
Louder I scream, still no sound
Sink deep, never to be found.
Trapped in a cage no one sees
That was designed without keys.
When you pass me, when we meet
I will nod, be polite, sweet.
You won't know, beneath my face
Churns chaos I can't erase
I am here, nowhere near whole
Fading echo, dimming soul
Every second in a disguise
Ashes, faking the strength to rise.