Pain peeling
jagged layers off my mind.
Spurts of feeling
siphoned out, dehydrating numbness
left behind.

Desolation drops
in dark molasses puddles
at my feet.
Outside, the world cavorts
but I lay curled
in corner-cove retreat.

Patient time
sutures edges of tomorrow
with unbroken strands of grey.
Moments climb
upon the scars
in thoughtless disarray.

This agony will pass,
well-meaning voices claim.
Perhaps.
But I will never laugh
the same.