Save Me

Sunless days, starless nights
heavy footsteps echo through the open air
I’m choking on the dusty words caught in my throat,
left raw by mangled cries for help.

The silhouettes in hotel windows watch carefully
nothing more than frail shadows, outlines of life
as I stumble into their domain
they reach out to touch me
but I feel nothing aside from the whisps of wind;
they’re bound to the curtain to which they sold their soul
that will no longer slide away.

A window of my own awaits me, with hope and promise
written in the fog left by my warm breath
My cool fingers loosely grip the course fabric
and I don’t know if I’m trying to pull it open or close
but I cannot do either.

Free will is for the strong
and I am weak now- too weak
my skin lays tight over my bones
and I cannot keep my eyes open long enough to let the tears slip through.

In time, figures- faceless, lurid
make their daily rounds
to pull the curtain over me
as all imperfections
that they cannot risk be seen.

The curtain engulfs me
it is tight, tighter than my skin, so tight that I cannot breathe
so I hold my breath
and wait for someone to come along
and save me.