when all the shadows shift

𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭

if you were to touch
my porcelain skin,
you'd feel the ice
coursing through my
bloodstream.
I'm still holding
myself together,
but my bones are
c r e a k i n g
under the pressure.

I am slowly drifting
in and out of myself,
like a flickering light
on the verge of
short-circuiting.
did you see the sky?
it split in two last night.
do you see my chest?
my loss of breath?
my ribs cracked open,
heaving my lungs
right from my own body.
so, what use is a body
if it's set on betraying
the soul inside?

I've been bargaining
with this coldness
inside of me.
let me go.
set me free.
unhand my heart.
but the coldness
is spreading
splintering
seeping
into the roots
of my bones,
like a wildfire
tearing through a
dry forest.
can't you see?
I will both freeze
and burn
for this.

I have lost touch
with my humanity
and it will be the
birth of a riot
in the depths
of my skull.