Skeleton

Eyes rotten

Home to maggots

Holes through my head

Centipedes have eaten through

Mind numb

It's infested by spiders

Bones are aching

They're gnawed on by ants

My skin ablaze

Soaked in acid

Black snakes intertwined in my 24 ribs

They're injecting venom,

Even so, I'll only melt faster

An infested skeleton

Melting and burning

This is what I've become

But I'll still deny and say I'm fine

Even if these creatures devour me whole

These insects —this infestation, that no one else seems to see

And no one sees my rotting flesh

No one sees that my every nerve is being clawed at, and scorched by the sun

No one sees these vultures circling around their feast

No one smells my burnt skin

And no one sees the bleeding from my chest

Some say ignorance is bliss,

But why does it feel like torture instead?

I have to wonder,

Why am I still smiling?

My rotting cheeks are tired of this action

This action that others expect of me

My yellowed teeth are falling out

My tongue refuses to speak

So I silently endure

Wondering if pills would help tear me from this hellish nightmare

If I could make my mouth speak,

Would it help?

Could it chase away these insects and vultures?

But this damned tongue of mine won't move and I'm rendered mute for no sounds escape my throat

So I can only suffer in silence

As I'm eaten alive

An infested skeleton

That no one can see

This is what I've become