The air lays still and lifeless giving no leaf a need to care,
No sound of passing traffic or kids laughter in the air.
Everywhere seems silent as if the world has lost its voice,
Even birds seem silent, bereft of song as if without a choice.

So eerie and pervasive is the silence right there outside my door,
Shouting aloud in its hush change to all things that went before.
Long periods of empty air, devoid of usual sounds I once ignored.
Leaving silence etched in mind where fear has seared and scored.

Have you ever noticed how dark the world is at night?
It's like someone's thrown a blanket over the day
And unless it finds its way out, dark it will stay.

Have you ever noticed how still the world is at night?
No noise, just silence, no light, just stars
No pets or people, just sometimes the odd car.

The world is still but my thoughts are nocturnal
They circle my mind, never ending, eternal.

I'm losing myself, my thoughts take stride
They spin round and round, can't sleep, want to hide.

Then day appears in a flash of light and they disappear, preparing for another night.

Have you ever noticed how dark the world is at night?

I could be
Still.
But the words never will.
Stop
Writing themselves.

"Thoughts spill over as ink to a quill..."

When I'm in the ground I'll
Still
Reside in the words that I write.
Until

My blood dries.
And the universe has had its
Fill
of what I have to offer.

Someone told me you're still pretty
you still wear your 20's in your 30's
bite your nails when angsty
and stutter when jittery

Someone told me you still fly
making the earth your sky
falling out of being shy
into living a different reality

Someone told me you still cry
when you're feeling, everything really...
turning your cheeks red with salty tears
chafing childhood from baby cheeks

Someone told me you...still...

Sitting,
An article of stagnance,
With a heavily dusted window,
And a soul in heavy fragments.
Looking at you through the glass,
Wondering what has come to pass.
I’ve been here forever,
But nobody stays forever.
Now forever feels like home,
And I’ve turned up alone
After you vanished from my head
And filled my mind with lead.

I am still me.

Still me.

I want to shout it from the highest places, just so that you can hear it and understand. Hear it and believe it. Hear it and trust me.

Still me.

Because that girl who dug around your garden and nearly ate night shade berries still exists. The one who crawled around on the carpets, playing with toy cars, she's still here. The child who sat cross-legged on the counter tops licking icing off her fingers is still alive.

She's still in here. Waiting for the day she sees the entire world. Pretending that she can fly even when the world has clipped her wings time and time again. Watching rain streak down the windows, admiring the ladies who traipse around in Victorian dresses when we watch those films you love.

She still awws at every sweet thing she stumbles across. And still hopes against all hope that she will live in an ancient forest. Who still adores Joan of Arc and loves to read poetry out loud.

Still me.

Still over watering plants because I have no idea when to stop giving.

Still up in the middle of the night dreaming.

Still singing.

Still here.

Still me.

That simple truth shouldn't change your opinion of me. Because it doesn't change who I am.