Darkened

Pray
for the breaking, for the crash, to just
come
and
consume
the pressure that's
crushing
that little piece of humanity
clinging
to the last innocent shard of your heart.

Roar
in defiance, to
push
that imminent breaking--you
know
you
crave
it more than breath, but you
know
you can't
clean
the inevitable pieces fast enough to
hide
the inside that will
burst
outside as soon as you
exhale.

Shelter
that small morsel of innocence before you
rupture
and all the darkened rest of you
floods
that tender, tough, tiny thing that
nudges,
oh, so gently, to
remind
you to
remain
true, clean and more than just a shadow of everyone else.

Breathe
deep to
rediscover
the lukewarm goodness
cradled
in that shrinking heart that
stretches
to keep
pounding
not so far beneath the surface,
whispering
weakly at whatever piece of you will
listen,
in the shimmering hope that you'll
wake
and
remember
that you don't have to
die
in the dark.