Why do I even bother anymore.  
This ache’s been hiding beneath sweet veneers,  
a bitterness that won’t dissolve.  
It clings—  
festering near the heart,  
sinking into my veins  
like it belongs there.

Thoughts spiral,  
spliced with voices  
that tangle and echo until  
I can’t feel the edges of what’s real.  
I linger too long in fractured reflections,  
where clarity used to live.

The air’s thick—  
it steals my voice  
before I even speak.  
I’m fading from the foreground,  
becoming background noise  
in a world that doesn’t blink.

Everything stares back  
with blank expressions  
and unfamiliar eyes.