Invisible Wounds

Insidious bleakness, a fog

That swirls and shrouds

My body and mind

Weighing heavy on my limbs

Pressing me down

With unseen forces

 

Cold void of trauma and loss

Regrets and self doubt

Enveloping my soul

Smothering and quashing

Hope’s flame extinguished

Only smoking embers remain

 

Invisible pain, tight confines

Of restrictive swaddling

Concealing emotion

And impeding action

Suppression of breath

Suppression of self

 

Ice daggers pierce my heart

Puncture wounds seeping

Entirety of being, emptied

As life drips away

Drowning understanding

Empathy masked by ignorance

 

copyright © 2018 Karen Horsley