Lick your lips
taste the plastic of your smile
take a breath
smell the sanitation of your skin
knock your head
hear the hollow echoes of your shell
But don’t fucking worry
you aren’t alone
we’re all in this together,
we’re all just masks running blind
set to default.
Cut off from ourselves
just empty constructions to others’ stories
I’ll be tagged in your photo
You’ll be tagged in mine,
I’ll like your picture
but only if you’ll like mine
No longer are we voices
Just nails tapping on keyboards
Fingers on screens
But don’t fucking worry
you aren’t alone
we’re all in this together,
we’re all just masks running blind
set to default.
But if we’re all just characters
for other people’s stories
Who even has their own?
Who gets to read the stories?
Who holds the pen?
But don’t fucking worry
you aren’t alone
we’re all in this together,
we’re all just masks running blind
set to default.
Crack a smile.
Literally.
Hear the minute tears it makes
in the cover you’ve created
Let a tear drip
like a water-drop sliding on cool glass
down the smooth surface of your face
watch it smudge the paint
you plastered on this morning.
Let me join in,
let’s walk through a downpour
and flood the streets with years of paint.
Give me a chisel
let’s deepen the ridges
make oceans out of puddles
replace satellites with stars.
Let’s just see
Who we could be
[Kirsty Campbell]
Image credit: Nour El-Issa