Almost Is A Wound Poem by Emmanuel Ayeni

Not voice but fracture
the noise inside me
a building cracking under invisible weight
and I am both the walls and the dust

The ceiling recognizes my stare
the floor memorizes my pacing
I wake up wrestling air
tired of being almost

My ribs house a riot
a scream clawing for sky
if I roar it will not be gentle
it will bruise the silence

For I refuse to fade politely
refuse to dissolve into background noise
if something must break in this season
let it be the barrier, not me