Suffocating under these feathered weights
Gripping the cliff side with my failing ideals
Swept away in my daily dose of crippling uncertainty
An overworked mind, an underutilized soul
Drifting with the current, as the sun's rays say goodbye
Parting words you never said to me

pause
stop the earth in its rotation so that she's the only one circling my mind
stall the light from the distant stars on its arrival so that hers can shine brightest
cover the skies in misty grey clouds to trap my final thoughts of her
have the birds chirp her favorite melody so that her memory may go on
demand the leaves to bristle according to her fading heartbeat
name the day after of her so that she will never be forgotten
capture the last of her diamond tears in your minds camera roll
fill every streets ambience with the hum of her voice

share these feelings with the world around
all so that my grief won't go unnoticed
in a world where she still lives, only in someone else's arms

Mundane celebrations to mask our ever closing demise
Working 9 to 5s, never fully enjoying our limited lives
Never knowing which day will be our last
So we choose to slave away for a world
That we will never fully experience
In the hopes our successors will enjoy the fruits of our labor
But inevitably enjoy the same propaganda pamphlets that their parents once read
And slave for a world, that their successors might enjoy
All the while, the reapers scythe sharpens.

Sedate me to the external torment each new day bolsters
Numb my emotions to the point I no longer experience
Daily struggle to submit my mind to an unconscious slumber
A greater struggle yet to awaken with intent
Finding meaning in a meaningless world
Drove me unstable many moons ago
Edging closer to my inevitable demise at my own hands
Last strands of hope fleeting, I draw my final breath
And flow away with the winds

Rehearsed confessions they'll never hear
Single-file tears they'll never see
Panicked thoughts run wild
Anxious emotions that will never be free
Because after all there's nothing wrong with me
Wearing my flawless masks
Riddled with smiles that don't belong to me
And so all my answers remained the same
My entire life brought together in
automated responses

deprived of a higher purpose

a reason for my meaningless existence

journey of discovery

a break from the mundane

repetitive nature of self-isolation

alone but never lonely

not until she crossed my mind for a final time

and so I awake each afternoon

dreading the coming hours

of mediocre party tricks

all in an effort to waste passing time

ironically the commodity

that everyone runs out of