she exists in a peaceful, silent world

she exists in a peaceful,
     silent world…

     …alone.

   the water around her dances slowly
     to the melancholy song
        of her thoughts, gradually
                   pitching her back and forth.

off-color lighting
       casts long, dreary shadows
   across the empty room,
            and across the textured
                       ceiling.

                   one hand…

             rests solemnly
        next to her naval
                 as her breasts gently
           rise and fall, matching
                         the rhythm of her
                 somber breathing.

out-of-place paintings
                      tell stories that seem so
     unreal…

             these things don’t happen in
         her abandoned world…

she lets out a short,
         selfish laugh
    at the woman
                 hanging on the wall…

                             not in her world.

her knees sympathetically
           rest together as…

  
                   she turns away from the room…


          from the yellow lighting
       and the dreary

                    …shadows…

            from the out-of-place paintings.

she leaves her one hand…


     softly…


resting against her belly.

             and places the other
        over her eyes, as an anguished
            frown erupts across her face.



                      she gasps for breath.


what is all this for?
what does any of it mean?

painted strokes tell
         a story of imbalanced joy
   and impossible contentment
             while her life continues to
         seem out of reach and
                 without forgiveness


she lets the waters…

             pour over her face,
         washing it all away…

      and again the waters sway
            to that melancholy song…

                  silently.

            …

                            she sighs…

                …

          another day.