I am not alone.

I am not alone.

I am not alone.

Why am I alone?

Such a simple,

Quick twisting of the words;

My mind makes it

Without hesitation.

No matter the lengths

I stress, Doubt is

Always nagging.

I can repeat word

After word

After word,

Assuring myself of

The light to come, but

Does it ever work?

My mind clearly sees

The imposter clouding

My vision, clearly knows

The outcast amongst

My obsessions. Why

Does it fail to clear them?

How do the worst of

My thoughts creep

Out of their crevice?

Why do I indulge them so?

Without fail, the lengths I go to

cannot protect me,

Not even when the

Most innocent fluttering thought

Stumbles upon the darkest

Of intrusive images, vivid enough

To bring forth the

Likeness of a memory.

Have you seen someone

Writhing on a bed, covered

In agony? Have you felt

Yourself on the brink of

Sanity?

Then you have met me.

Any effort to reel

Myself back ashore

is to no avail;

I have broken the spine

Of my grit and tumbled

Into the abyss.

When I finally climb

Back out, I’m always

Left to wonder:

How much pressure

Can the mind take

Before it finally shatters?