Familiar smells have faded

I think of favors left undone

Familiar sounds have drifted away

Conversations silenced

Forward progress halted to a dead stop, each foot refusing to pass the other

Mechanical motions strain under pressure, breaking down, deteriorating, running hot, erratic, lurching, painful

Come up for air just long enough to see the next wave crashing down from above

Pressure built up and released

The story unfolds again and again, each round shorter, each time colder

Behind my eyes it's worse every time, magnified suffering

This retching, wretched rage

Sympathetic words mumble across the gap between empathy and experience

Empty gestures and overflowing intentions seek to salve a burn as flames remain

We're all strangers here on this side of the grave