Numb Poem by Kristina Louisa Carr

I am breathing but the air does not fill my lungs
Minutes turn into days with ice on the tip of my tongue
Thoughts of life bypass my heart and linger in the room
I can't make sense of the noise invading like stale perfume
Walking down the road I lose my inner perspective
Searching for something under stones like a detective

Sleep saves me with clouds of darkness during the night
While ideas of tenderness surrender without a fight
Stone walls keep me captive in pastures of green grass
Waiting I watch the seasons through a kaleidoscope glass
Like the echo of sirens vibrating in a storm of dust and sand
I am swaying in the breeze to the beat of a forgotten band

Crossing the bridge across a river of clammy cold sweat
I attempt to clean up the blood of the wounded as in debt
The breath of death touched my surface missing my heart
Every day I get up and move around pretending not to fall apart
Iron chains keep me captive without chafing my ankles and skin
Reborn as a virgin I gain inches embracing the shadow of my twin

I can hear the screams of the silent mirrored in pleading eyes
Paralyzed they cannot save me permitting excuses and lies
Time stands still clutching to the dances of sleepless nights
I am rattling confessions disguised in rituals of last rites
In a world of anguish I am still free blowing bubbles of gum
Smiling I am hiding my tears and sorrows remaining numb