Drip

Drip, drip, drip

My eyes open

And peer into the dark, seeing

Neither judgement nor forgiveness

And it feels

Neither inviting nor rejecting

It is simply dark

Nothing to see here except for

The images behind my eyes

But how can I sleep when I hear

Drip, drip, drip

That damn faucet

Quiet all day

Until the sun goes down

And then it gets louder

The darker it gets

Until the lights are off

The eyes start to close

And then suddenly! Cannon fire!

DRIP, DRIP, DRIP

That sound taunts me

Even from before this faucet

Even from before this house

It's haunted me

My whole life

Knocked to the ground

Teased in school

Kicked in the face

Put in a chokehold

Scrape after scrape after scrape

All leading up to

Drip, drip, drip

Tears leaving my eyes

Abandoning my face

Falling upon notebooks

And notebooks and notebooks

Of crossed out words, and

Screaming in ALL CAPS

Fading out the ink

Smudging out my soul

Being told to

Cancel out my feelings

"Sorry dad"

"Sorry mom"

"Sorry..."

Whispered into damp pillows

Wet from all the

Drip, drip, drip

Sorrow and anger turned inward

Poured out from my heart

Into my veins

Then out of my veins

Ruby red against porcelain skin

Streaming down my

Arms

Hands

Fingers, and then

Drip, drip, drip

Ruins the nice white carpet

Ruins the crisp clean sheets

Ruins the plush towels

Ruins the all-American dream family household

Destroys everything inside

And outside of me

That scarlet heat burns bright

But turns out empty

As life becomes oh so empty...

Drip, drip, drip...

Damnit, I really need to

Fix that goddamn faucet,

I think to myself

As I turn over

And try to sleep.