It's like being trapped in glass,
Frozen without even a breath
You wait to be smashed
To be released or destroyed,
And the waiting is agony.
It hurts like being paralyzed.
No move can you make
No word can you say
No scream gets to the surface.
It's all locked inside,
Happening but not happening.
It does more damage in than out
But you are suspended,
Hardened into immobility,
Encased in silence.
And you wait. And the waiting is what really makes you weak.
The longer you are here,
A paused person, a heartbeat halfway done,
A lung half full of air,
A step almost taken,
The longer you are frozen, the more brittle you become
Until the flick of a fingernail can shatter you
And leave you dust upon the floor.
And you know it, and you wait,
And it will come.
But when?
And really, which is worse?