“Like a Drug”

by

I have forgotten what it feels like to live.

My mind operates on degrees of numbness.

My ego exists in limbo.

I meander around feeling like a pair of eyes.

So much so that when people talk to me, I forget I have a mouth.

 

And when I speak,

Oh how I speak like I have nary glimpsed a moment’s silence.

Filling the quiet is an addiction.

Escaping the moment is like a drug.

 

Have you ever felt the A/C rain air droplets on your skin?

Have you ever smelled the pages of an old book?

Have you ever tasted spring water?

Have you ever held a human’s hand?

Yes, love.

Love again, love again.

We would fill silences together.

 

No? 

Then I will retreat back into my daydream,

Wherein I count the ridges of my fingertips 

And construct a new dispirited memory.

A memory I will discard at the sight of my melting face.

 

The high:

Technicolor frizzy hair and phantoms strewn about the room

The dandelion blown before it had a chance to bloom- 

That’s me.

And my seeds aren’t even breaking the surface

Like the fruits of all my efforts when I try to do acts of service.

 

The legacy:

Then, a stain. Let me make a stain.

Let me leave a trace.

So far, my calling card is a hypochondrial histrionic name, 

And a very melted coagulated face.

 

The hope:

If I start again, life will accommodate. Patience and prosperity are only a few cycles away.

 

A few more cycles of staying hidden. Like a drug.