Trapped in a cage with golden bars of light
Of ancient habit and direful duties;
Below the water crashed into the bight,
The whispering waves baiting with beauties.

But her shadow lurked around the coast,
Dashing her to the beach like drifting wood.
Preventing her from what she wanted the most
To reach new shores from where she stood.

She wanted to travel and sail the open sea
Beyond the shingle, seaweed and shells
Closer to the horizon where the birds flew free
Or to the arenaceous ground in diving bells.

And coming back to where she started
She found her seaside changed since she has parted.
Or did the widening horizon change her perceiving?
For returning was not the same as never leaving.

Closespacesmakeyouanxious
Thesqueezingofmyexpectations
Pressurein­myswingingmoods
Myselfishnessslamsdoors
Myheatshutswindows
I’mver­ytight,small
Shrinkingismygift
Iadorethatinstinct
Yourescape
Self-survival
Da­rwinism

Down down below me
A place with no hope
Where all that can find me
Is this unwinding rope

In a place filled with darkness
We’re trapped in the pain
From the cuts in our skin
To the thoughts in our brains

But one day in life
When we all come to die
The shadows of death
Take us into the sky

To a place where we're freed
From this life that we've shaped
And we're finally given
The chance to escape

I love company
In the form of anxious thoughts
I am less lonely
Accompanied by twenty screaming voices
Tearing at my every inch of flesh
Pouring pain into my veins
Crying is good for the soul
They laugh in union
As I lie lonely in my bed
Hoping someone will find me
Bruised and broken
And take me into their arms
Hold me like a child
But you are too grown to feel such things
These voices whisper, licking blood
Carefully off their fingers
Spikes poke at my sides leaving no room
For me to move or breathe
I am slowly dying
And yet I tell you I am fine
For if I were to ever admit
That this is how I truly feel
My demons would take form
No longer shadows but figures
Ready to take me whole