In the shadows of glass and steel,
where laughter dances on sunlit sidewalks,
we sit in silence,
the world, a carousel, spinning wildly,
ignores us,
as we’re anchored to our corners,
invisible.
Knocking on the doors that lock us out,
each knock echoing forgotten dreams,
cities draw their lines in chalk and grit;
we are ghosts hovering between what is shared
and what is kept as guarded treasure.
a password unspoken,
bridges built with bridges burnt;
every smile slicing through air like blades,
they don’t see the invisible:
a universe wrapped in exclusion.
Each day blurs into the next;
the horizon shifts just beyond reach,
while you roam through streets painted bright hues,
I am here, with only imagination for company.
Belonging slips through hands extended wide,
like grains of sand,
the harder I grip,
the more it eludes me;
but still I breathe this stagnant air,
searching for meaning,
woven within quiet moments.
What do you know of being unseen?
To live behind phantom curtains,
our hearts beat bold,
a rhythm unsung,
yearning to join your parade,
with every heartbeat,
time stretches further between us.
We find solace beneath these roofed skies,
crafted from dreams yet held captive,
in these alcoves carved by circumstance,
invisible threads binding our existence together.
This isolation cannot shatter hope entirely;
though sometimes night creeps heavy upon my chest,
my heart too large for these four walls
reminds me,
I can still long to belong,
even if belonging means carving paths from shadows,
shadows cast deep,
by those who roam so free.
This poem, alongside Emma's paintings, has been published in journals and magazines and exhibited in print, audio and video in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.
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