Fading Into Numbness

Here's a poem that transforms the quote into a reflective, lyrical piece:

I've built these walls with trembling care,
Believing they'd secure my fragile core—
Every brick a guard against despair,
Yet now I sense I'm losing more.

Behind each stone, safety softly lies,
Cloaking me in quiet, guarded night;
But as the distance between truth and guise
Grows, I watch my self fade from sight.

Each shut gate, each measured shield,
Meant to fend off the jagged sting,
Steals a bit of the life once revealed,
Leaving echoes where my spirit would sing.

I stand inside this fortress of my own design,
Where numbness whispers in every silent hall—
A slow, receding echo of what was once mine,
A shadow of passion that dares not call.

Safe in this solitude, I feel a cost—
A vanishing self, a part of me erased;
Each time I shield, a piece of life is lost,
Dimming the spark that once blazed.

So, in these walls that promised to protect,
I find a quiet truth, both cruel and fair:
In guarding against hurt, I too disconnect,
Fading away into numb, desolate air.