There is a sadness within me
That will not go away
Too young I am
To fathom her hues
But she will not go away

Instead, I feel her claw out my hands
My arms, my back, my uneven hair
She settles in the seedlings
And climbs up the vines
Hangs by the ceiling
And teases with her dangling legs

She eats the colours
Out of every song I dare to play
And will drink nothing
But the unflavoured hours

I do not know—
She is like a sun-kissed child
Jumping around
She wants a taste of all my scents
Leaves me scentless in return
I watch— I watch
She keeps scribbling verses
Over my messy drawings

I am sick of concealing her
Behind delirious words
And glamourised tales
She asks me if I am ashamed
no— not ashamed
just— I do not know

She is like a wide-eyed kitten
Ecstatic and restless
And will not be grasped
Will not be caged
Will not be butchered

The plants keep dying—
The plants keep dying and
days pile up
I watch— I watch
She will not go away