fragile yet bulletproof
a doll, china-glazed
wrapped in barbed wire
steel claws, my iron gaze

through the blackness
the magnetic ground
starry-eyed; it's tempting
trying to pull me down

with lead weights tied
to my dragging heels
god I wish I were strong
and didn't have to feel

mind wired on chemicals
and caffeinated veins
blood clots, racing heart
I think I'm sick again

counting the hours in
bites of empty air
ghosts crawling to my ears
nestling in brittle hair

I'll have to stop soon
I'm hunger-drunk, dying
high on pain and
so done with trying

baffled by so-called normal
those machines that refuel
on fat, sugar, calories
it's so ******* cruel

that I was born to howl
at a midnight moon
to live in shadows, knowing
my life is ending soon.

*© Tara India.