The tragedy is
there's a prison in my mind
all the thoughts that lurk there
are ones I wish were never mine
they etch into my heart
the scars I wear so bright

They whisper wicked stories
of things that never happened
or maybe things that did
things that shouldn't create ripples
in the current in my life
but here I lay in bed
stuck awake at night
eyes cutting blankly
through the nothingness of my cold and dark bedroom

You can’t wash away loneliness,
it lurks and it spies
a stain on tomorrow
where destiny cries

You can’t keep what’s been stolen
or find what’s not there,
alone and deserted
—the soap of despair

(Dreamsleep: November, 2021)