The Weight

by Jha'zhae Ponder

​

The weight,  

weighs on me. 

It steps on my bones, crackling. 

The pressure...  

I can’t breathe. 

I’m haunted by the secrets in these walls.  

The four walls suffocate me, watch me  

as I scream in the shower every day. 

The tears burn my face, skin  

as they drip from my dead soul. 

The thoughts of walking in front of a train,  

or a burning building. Consume me. 

The weight overcomes me.  

I surrender to the burden,  

to a life I never asked for. 

The weight wins, mockingly. 

It’s shuffling a deck that never ends. 

It smiles at me, as I fall unto the floor in  

a puddle of pure desperation. 

My soul withers beneath the black smoke.