I peer out at the world through a fractured lens,
The crimson stains upon my soul I breathe in.
Each echoing drip a dark reminder of what's been,
A plush white canvas now marred by sin.

The path I forged, a trail of tortured screams,
A younger me, dragged down by darkened dreams.
My charcoal heart, a hollow, echoing space,
Holds the remnants of a brighter, sweeter grace.

The skies that shimmered, futures sung so fair,
A taste of nectar, a dream suspended in air.
One last look I steal before the brushstrokes fall,
This canvas I'll repaint upon the shattered wall.

They never sought the truth, the one I held within,
A stranger's smile I wear to mask the war within.
A pounding drumbeat echoes in my head,
The urge to scream, to lash out, left for dead.

The door swings wide, a facade I must maintain,
For escape's a luxury I cannot attain.
Back to the gloom I go, to face the life I know,
But a flicker of hope remains, a seed that will yet grow.