I’ve been living in a coffin
So long the dark has started
Answering me back
At first it was only echoes
My breath ricocheting off the walls
My heartbeat pacing like an animal
That knows it won’t be let out
But then the wood began to whisper
Grain shifting like teeth
Telling me things I don’t remember
But somehow feel guilty for
Time doesn’t move here
It circles
It Loops
It gnaws
Every thought returns wearing a new mask
Asking the same question
With a sharper edge
Some nights I swear the coffin shrinks
Tightening around my ribs
As if it’s trying to learn my shape
From the inside
Other nights
It expands
A cathedral of darkness
I wander through it barefoot
Tripping over memories
I thought I buried on purpose
The worst part isn’t the silence
It’s the way the silence watches me
Waiting for me to crack first
Maybe I already have
Maybe the lid was never nailed shut
Maybe I’m the one holding it closed
Terrified of what light might reveal
About the person who chose
To live here