sometimes I trace the bottoms
of my fingers and down my palm,
I draw circles around my wrists
silently reminding myself
that there are no cracks,
that I am whole.
I run my eyes along the ceiling,
scanning desperately for a sign,
thinking maybe ghosts carved their names
between the ridges and the miniature shadows.
I sink my head into my pillow,
hoping maybe I will get
swallowed without a sound,
and I will drown,
like I almost did when I was eleven,
and I banged my ribs and burned my lungs
with black, dead water.
sometimes I have these moments alone
where your slow breathing
still won't calm me, not even the humming
of planes gliding through sky.
its 5:40 AM and my world is silent
but my mind is screaming.