Featured Poet - Charly White

OKAY

I’m not okay, and I know

‘that’s okay’

but how do I get past that?

with everything I can’t understand and all the words

I cannot find, cannot feel

Happy - yes that’s it!

is that what I’m aiming for?

if so, I’m failing (and that doesn’t help)

Help - that feels more like it

4 simple letters strung together

in desperation

but how do I use them?

where are they?

I can feel them already, slipping away

into the realm of everything that feels wrong.

And I am there, in the centre of it all

lost, falling.

SPREADING

The infection in my mind

has taken to rot, taken hold

of my body - claimed

as its next victim.

I can feel it, slowly, breaking away

at each bone, each bite: fresh and ripe

Euphoric - it can’t get enough.

Wearing me down, as I wither away

in its delight

THE GHOST IN NEED

Today I winced, as I looked in the mirror

and my ribs pounced out to break free.

Today I cried, as I saw my reflection

and the bones that were left of me.

Are you happy now? My stomach growled

in disgust,

an agonising screech of pain.

Not at all, I whisper

with a sympathetic pity

for the ghost

I must try

to love again.

CAGE

When did I step inside this cage?

I can’t remember walking in

but here I am, no longer free

as my body repulses, each time

I try to leave: hands shaking, breath short

head exploding, screaming over and over

RETREAT

as the bars slam down

to block my path with its

thick iron lock … when

did I step inside this cage?

I can’t remember walking in

yet here I am

no longer free

and it’s me who has always

held the key