Joyce Peters – “Hollow”
Hollow
A predator is living within me
Preying on my insides
A scrap of flesh at a time
Grabbing tearing chewing and digesting
The feeling so painful yet so interesting
The feeling of nothing
Like being frozen numb
So you don’t know when you lose your thumb
But for me, it’s my heart
I can feel the terrible gnawing
My screams of agony translated to deep sighs
I tried to cry
But the tears evaporate from the heat of pride waiting in my throat before they could reach my eyes
At least I can say I tried
So I’ll wait
I’ll wait till I’m hollowed out
Till there’s nothing more to eat
And the predator will sleep
Then I can regrow
Regrow my ecosystem
My inner peace
Then I’ll hope
Hope the predator stays asleep
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash