Beneath the surface, thought swirl, collide-
The clock ticks loud in the silence of my mind,
Anxiety crawls, a heavy weight inside,
Each breath a struggle, each thought unkind.
I hold my fists tight, as anger burns,
The world spins too fast, too hard to bear,
Sadness leaks out, as the body yearns,
For something, anything – someone to care.
I wear my mask well, but the cracks do show,
The damage beneath, too raw to hide.
Smiles slip off, leaving shadows below,
A heart caged – afraid to collide.
Stress pulls at my skin, tight and taut,
Each step forward a mile too long,
My head aches with questions I haven’t sought,
While my silence hums a desperate song.
I reach for hope, but it slips through my grasp-
Unseen, unknown, lost in the fog,
Yet somewhere in the dark, there’s a gasp,
A whisper of light, hidden in the smog.
But even then, the fight is far from done,
My mind’s a battlefield – no place to run.
Abby Kucowski is a poet who lives in Philadelphia, attending Franklin Towne Charter High School. More of her work can be found online at www.philadelphiastories.org/junior.