"How does that make you feel?"

My mind buzzes.
Workers frantically
swarming a hive
trying to find their queen.

As streets in the Delhi heat,
thoughts suffocated
by the chorus of horns
from the emotions I can't meet.

Forgotten language.
Hieroglyphs
flashing in my mind
that cannot be deciphered -
not at this time.

My mouth opens
with a sharp intake of air.
Paralysis.
An infant without language,
yearning for care.

Fingers latch onto my arm
tighter still.
Body tensing,
constricting in pointless
abandon.

Silence.

Stolen words
resign
to isolation.