The lights in the auditorium don't turn off
you know this because you can see them in your head
constantly
flickering slightly and keeping you awake

bright lights that blind you
make you sick and create the hopeless feeling that just doesn't go away
that settles over you and
crushes your lungs

it could be years
but you don't know
all you can see is the bright lights of the auditorium
as the blood drips down your face and onto your shirt

as the blood seeps into your clothing, plastering itself to your skin
as the heartbeat in your ears slowly turns into the only thing you can hear
as your eyes glaze over and you fall to the linoleum floor
unable to breathe

so it's not that you're dying
i mean,
you are
you are, but you're already dead

the lights in the auditorium are blinding you
and you can't move
and you can't speak
and sooner or later, the whole world turns down

turns down the sound from the outside
and the lights that seeped into your eyes
past useless eyelids
so that's it