What do you do when it's time to say goodbye?
When the concrete keeps moving under your immobile feet?
When your heart stops beating in your chest.
Hanging there,
Bleeding.

You watch everything you love,
Leave you in the dust.
Powerless,
With a mouth as dry as sand,
And a body seeming to break down.

Lifes beautiful rose,
Shriveled before its first bloom.
All potential,
Lost..
Such is a life wasted...

Burn me at the roots,
Engulf me in flames,
Char my skin until I am no more.

Ball of fire,
Burning bright.
Bright as the sun,
Brimming with potential.
Amidst the deafening roar of flames,
The crackling of breaking down,
Whisper these soft words.

Beckon me,
Give me hope.
Instruct me.

Those soft verbal caresses,
The water to douse the flames.
Watch me erupt.

"Arise and be all that you dreamed."

I stare at the wall.
I should be feeling,
I should be breaking,
Crying myself into a dreamless sleep.

There's nothing.
As soon as emotion appears,
It is silenced.
Hard heart,
Cold as ice,
Freezing any pain,
Any joy,
Any sorrow.

It took years to achieve this,
Years to curse myself into perfection.
Years to feel as hollow as people seem to think I am.

Their words bounce off,
Cutting like glass as they leave.
But I feel no pain.
I am numb.

Emotionally drained,
Seeking a purpose for this empty shell.
Identity stripped,
Every tie cut,
Who am I now?

Lost soul,
Adrift in a broken world.
Monotony is the enemy,
Restlessness is driving me mad.

Mind running in circles,
A hopeless insomniac, ,
Drowning in the sorrows of lost innocence,
Every mistake ever made,
Free-wheeling in my head.

Every thought mocking,
Prickling,
Like needles under the skin.
Never letting me forget,
The eternal question...
Who am I now?

Loud city,
Fast pace,
Passing cars.
Millions of people,
Trying to keep it together.

Too busy with their normal lives,
To notice the people on the corner,
Begging,
Trying not to look you in the eye,
While the last of their dignity dies.

A single mother,
Two kids already taken away,
A brand new baby on the way.
Her faith is half gone,
And it's all she can do to hold on.
She keeps wishing on shooting stars,
Praying for a brand new start for her and her baby girl.

An old amputee,
Fighting for his country got him a stub that tapers off just below the knee.
He doesn't  need food,
Doesn't need money,
And his sign says something different
"Someone please come talk to me."

Motherless child,
Emotions turned to steel,
His only defense to anger is not to feel.
*****,
Scared,
Hungry.

Loud city,
Fast paced,
Millions of people,
Trying to keep it together.

Slamming doors,
Shattered plates,
Angry curses,
Words full of hate.

16 years,
Grown up all too fast,
Shielding everyone else from the inevitable blasts.
Broken soul,
Busted heart,
Watching her entire life fall apart.
Hide the kids,
Protect the dogs,
Pray for mercy from God.

12 years old,
Knowing the time when the burden will be hers is just down the road.
Struggling with her identity,
Just wanting a way out..

4 years old,
Enough fear to make her blood run cold.
Hiding behind her older sister,
Her guardian angel,
Protecting her from harm.
Staring at the monster that she once knew,
Covering her ears when a door is approached,
Because she knows of the inevitable slam.

Closed doors,
Glass in the trash,
Floor swept clean with soft, quiet murmurs.
All at once it seems,
The dragon has run out of fire,
And the storm has ceased.

"I'm worth it."
"I'm worth it."
"I am beautiful!"
I whisper these words over and over to myself in the mirror,
Trying desperately to make the feeling of self-worth appear.
Trying to convince myself that I am not a mistake.

All I see are flaws,
All I feel is the imperfections,
Prickling,
Like burrs nestled into my skin.
I hear their opinions,
Their condemning lies,
All of their opinions,
Based on color, ***** and size.

Shattering the mirror,
I realize,
Society can ******* about my size.
I am worth it.
I am beautiful.