time stretches over me
layer by layer
minute by hour
holding me down
shrinking tighter
until I cannot move
or even breathe
to force me to
marinate in
my own dark
sour thoughts
rotting alone
in this perpetual
incarceration
that vibrant girl
who once glowed
like a sunset
now dulled by
the wrinkled
plasticy film of
life
and obligation
how I wish
for the light to
return
for the embers
that might still
burn
somewhere beneath
the grips
of this
stagnation
to be found
fed by some
oxygenic breath
to grow into
that vivid
dancing
flame
which once lived
inside me
lost to a life
I’d longed
and bartered for
a good life
enviable and full
but
limiting
in it’s excess
if only I could
breach the
encasement
dry my mind
in the sun
soak up the
hours
and joys
breathe it in
like those around me
freed from the
Saran Wrap
by the sharp blade
of will
and determination
or the pleasant
absolution
of ignorance
if only I could be
freed
from me
just long enough
to breathe a
sigh of
relief