Emptiness Poem by ann rta

Limp as a fish lying on shingle
having fought to exhaustion
to try to stay in the salty sea.

She sits silently in the chair
just staring,
staring into nothing, seeing nothing,
feeling nothing but tiredness.

She's given her all in helping
others to get on in their lives
now, hers lies empty and sterile.

All her pleasures, all her desires
buried under the demands
of others.

She wonders vaguely if she does
love them, but if not why?
Why sacrifice?

Her heart beats and lurches
in her chest and her lungs
labour for air.

She just wants to sleep
and wake when all is well,
not that she can,
she must go on until -
until ?