(un) fettered

it is too small for me, this thing you call life.
i have tried blending in only to find myself
confined, claustrophobic, suffocated into non-being

i find myself breaking into sweat, forming fluid-filled thoughts
of doubt and compromise, of drowning into conformity
fabricated existence, desperation crawling out of every orifice

breathing in. breathing out. stretching every breath to make it last.
to make it last. to make it count. count for what?
everything they write of, sing for, and bleed into, eludes me

i see you at night

i see you at night,
the curve of your back
and hear the weight of your cold-harried, well-worn step

i see you at night,
staring from the corner of your eye
furrowed brows creating undecipherable valleys between chocolate-colored romance

i see you at night,
endless waterfalls of curls and waves
covering thought and reaching out through unbreachable space

i see you at night,
standing still, moving all the same
creating turmoil in the wake of a missed opportunity to meet, to speak, to love