Skin - Publication Poem

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Reminiscence of Lullabies

Babbles and bubbles­—Crackles and crackers

Fresh cement laid beneath my sight, tiny impression, made by my feet.

Engraved in thousands of rolls of forgotten memories—Toddle and wobble.

Twirled around underneath the soft cotton, sun rays pierced

through the cracks between my fingers as I kiss the skies—puckered lips.

But the sunflowers in the back garden grew—too fast, too wild…

unexplainable.

Swallowed by fear from the voices I hear, distorted perception trampled

with thoughts of deceptions,

And I tipped my mad hat,

Chainless from the poison of reality and I jump down the rabbit hole— arms wide open

“Follow Cheshire.”

Signed off to the land of lucid dreams as I prayed to the Janus-faced man who told me I was his Alice.

Promised a life without depression, no worries of constant tugging between reality and fantasy

Surrounded by colours that sparked into small specks of masked childhood

And you watched me, silently in the corner as I devoured the straight white lines of sweet lies,

Tendrils of untamed enemies dug underneath my skin, contaminated my skewed sanity

I’m in the maze of four walls with no chance of escape, where the door is a mirage—A trickster.

“I’m in hell! In hell, I tell you!”

Toss in the depth of undisturbed volcano, the heat violently stretched my strapped skin, forced myself to be on my knees, begging to a man-made God for a quick release.

You crying at the sight of my sunken cheeks­—used to hold the promise high expectations of beauty.

Conductor’s hand glided through the symphony of filtered rose-tinted forgery

Live in a disbelief, I spit on the antique hourglass lived underneath layers of worn-out flesh

You mould me—Voluntarily peeled yourself so, I could wear your skin and look at me now,

I’m no longer the person in the pictures you took,

But simply the person splattered in the papers.

“I’m sorry…”

I sold myself to the queen of hearts in exchange of… Wonderland.