Mic check one two
The words fall out of me
Like teeth loosened in a dream
Soft
Clattering
Too quiet to be heard
Yet too heavy to ignore
The room doesn’t answer
It just waits
Breathing in that slow, patient way
That makes you wonder
If the dark has lungs
The mic hangs there
Thin as a threat
Black cord trailing down
Like something that crawled
Out of the floorboards
And never learned how to leave
One two
The static rises
A low animal growl
Caught behind the mesh
It vibrates against my fingers
Hungry
Like it recognizes the shape
Of my fear
Mic check
My voice fractures
Splitting into pieces
I don’t remember losing
Each syllable drags a shadow behind it
Longer than it should be
Longer than the laws of light allow
One two
The echo returns
But it’s not an echo anymore
It’s slower
Heavier
Like it’s dragging its own body
Through the dark
To reach me
Mic check
I step closer
And the air tightens
Thick as old velvet
Thick as breath held too long
Something in the silence shifts
A soft scrape
Like a chair moving
In a room I can’t see
One two
My voice goes out
But it doesn’t come back
It just disappears
Swallowed whole
Like the dark has decided
It’s tired of listening
And wants to keep a piece of me
For itself
Mic check
The lights flicker
Not in warning
But in recognition
As if they’ve seen this before
As if they know
What steps out of a voice
When it’s been stretched too thin
One two
The sound that rises now
Isn’t mine
It’s deeper
Colder
A slow exhale
From somewhere behind the mic
From somewhere I can’t reach
Without losing the rest of myself
Mic check
The shadow steps forward
Peeling itself from the wall
Like it’s been waiting
For the right frequency
To wake up
One two
It speaks my name
In a voice that fits me
Better than my own
A voice that sounds
Like everything I buried
Finally learning how to breathe
And the mic
Still hanging
Still humming
Leans toward it
Not me
As if it always knew
Which one of us
Was meant to take the stage
-
Author:
Anthony Hanible (
Offline) - Published: January 11th, 2026 06:05
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 3
- Users favorite of this poem: Anthony Hanible
Offline)
Comments1
Here there is a sense of duality a shadow or reflection that as an alter ego needs checking and in the mic that amplifies one's words the poem is set. Nicely done
To be able to comment and rate this poem, you must be registered. Register here or if you are already registered, login here.