THOUGHTLESS │✔️

together.

The universe once told me it was law

That whatever you felt, or perceived does not ever fall into the space

That other people saw.

So for the longest time I stared down to the darkness from the cliff of my bed

Believing no one would have known the emptiness

In my eyes.

Why try? When each of us just want to survive

Face the darkness, consume it if you have to and by all means, endure so your darkness doesn't intrude

That would be rude.

What disaster has made this world so?

No earthquake or wildfire I know could rip each one of us apart

Make us float on little shreds of stars

While we're all destined to be devoured by the same black hole

I asked the universe, they said:

These laws were carved in each of your souls

Long before reason was the gold that mankind sought

A controlled form of chaos is required

A necessary lie to keep civilization suffering, but all the same alive.

Somewhere though

Someone must have thrown me a fishing line

With no bait

How strange

Only a package of time and space

I opened it, and

Suddenly I could feel and cry

My hand was linked by a bridge to other cliffs, other shreds

I didn't know what to say, how to help but all that mattered were the stars in the sky

That briefly, just for a moment, lit up and lifted off the grey shroud covering my world

We shone bright, if only for a fleeting smile.

Like water, we dared not touch other's hearts

In fear it'll crack, drown, fall or burn

The fishing line and stars still linked us together

Though I wondered what kind of haphazard constellation we were

What a sight, a mess, a tangle of knots and dead ends

Full of bruises, tears and tight-lipped words strung after one another

Dictating what was sure to be a kingdom's silent fall.

It's a funny thing, that we managed to sign and act our feelings out across

Without ever knowing the other's voices

The choices we had made to meet at this crossroads

Had disappeared beyond the horizon

Or so we thought.

Cold, calculated, freezing fire

The dead beginnings of a land yet to be conquered

Memories haunt the depths of the seas

While the breeze loses direction of where it wants to be

One by one they emerged

Like small, undiscovered jewels

We brushed off the dirt and picked them up

Their worth was not in wealth or comfort

Rather our days were numbered as each new gem threatened to pull us apart, a magnet of all things undesirable, promising a bit of hurt

Though unlike the riches bought with blood, these sides of us were simply there from the start

An amalgamation of lovely and deadly things

What we chose to do with it when they landed in our hands

Was up to us

A second chance at our past mistakes, a second face for the universe to stare down

We found a common path to walk.

So we're here now, with a microphone hooked up to the speakers that amplify our heartbeats, to tell you that you're not alone.

We know

The fear you feel

That asked you to bow and crumble under the weight of the world

Buckling knees and tears shed too late

As the phone you tried to pick up lay on the floor

You tried calling, but the voice on the other end of your head said "stay away"

But the universe has no number

For moments in time cannot be quantified

Only the person beside you, and the next, and the next can sure that

They are aching, too.

We are no saints

No angels came to pick us up and suddenly, we were enlightened

But looking now, I haven't seen a single heart

That wasn't a lost compass, even with the stars knitting a black blanket over our shoulders

Nothing will ever unite us

Like the way our shared experiences sleeping in the darkness can.

There is no right or wrong

In this world of blinded sight and silent songs

So let your voice be heard among the sea of muted mouths

Shout as loud as you can

And suddenly, one's silence becomes many's shameless chants

A cacophony of grief and tears

But through it all, hope is set free.

It won't be easy

All of us are still chasing reality

Though there is immeasurable power

In the act of hands linked together

Form a lattice, a bigger fist, an emotional safety net

Even if a hug is all we can offer

Watching, hoping this will all get better

At least we have each other

To lean on when the night is over.

I don't think I've felt prouder writing and reading this poem.