SHOUT

MASK

In my mask grew a gaping crack.

It showed the things I am

and the things I lacked.

So I painted over it and left the mask intact.

BREATHE

For her, he breathes.
He inhales the vicious air of her,

her majestic aura.
He exhales dejected sighs,
for he receives no reaction.
He breathes to be made
breathless by her.

ESCAPE

How I long to drift
quietly into the night,
cross the ephemeral rift
and see a land of light.

Far away from roaming creatures
that wish to devour me whole—
that’s why I must venture
into the night, sparing my soul.

There I would spend my day
where nothing is as it seems.
More than a few hours, I wish to say
make-believe would it be, but still a dream.