tRAUMA

when you don’t know
what is or isn’t
real,
do you lift your eyes
to the skies
for
the answer?

hoping
and
pleading
while internally screaming,
suffocating
and painfully waiting
for one sign, word or miracle,
to release
your very soul
from
past demons?

it matters not whether it is
day or night,
because once the past finds you,
despite the absence of disaster,
the world you see
begins crumbling
beneath shadows
of former days.

you don’t choose the time
and cannot prevent it,
nor
those hands,
tightly wrapped,
around
your neck.

if you can take
just
one
more
breath
you are
one breath closer
to the end
of a living nightmare
that you will
soon
escape;

at least,
until it starts
again.