DROWNING IN THE INK

“Drowning in the Ink”

The corner is a kingdom made of dust.

I curl into the shape of what they break,

shrinking from the tests, the sharp distrust,

the quiet ways they make a mind mistake

its own reflection for a useless thing.

The body fails. The clever insults sting.

We sit a universe apart, estranged,

sharing a roof but breathing different air.

I look at what I am, how much has changed—

a burden in a dark, collapsing chair.

They want me smaller, simpler, turned to stone,

so I save the shattering for when I’m alone.

Then comes the midnight spilling from my face,

these black tears flowing in a silent space.

They hold the secret wish to fade from sight,

to slip away unnoticed into night.

A useless ghost, a burden cast aside,

drowning deep within the ink I hide.