The Lonely Crowd (Part 2)

I vowed to break free from this crushing lonely tide,

To unchain my true self no matter if they deride.

But my feeble courage drained like sand through fingers,

As I grasped for purpose, my hope slowly lingers.

Again and again I try to speak my heart,

But reservations leave me falling short.

The words stick in my throat, strangling my voice,

As I sink back into silence, without a choice.

Cowardly shackles cling tighter with each failure,

Weighing on my spirit, my attempts paler.

Adrift on this sea I begin to sink,

Gasping for air, too exhausted to even blink.

Their distracted eyes float past without a clue,

Oblivious to me drowning in front of their view.

Their smiles like daggers, laughter a twisting blade,

Tearing apart my feeble visage I've made.

This mask I constructed starts to peel away,

Exposing the mess of my life in disarray.

I plead with wild eyes for someone to see,

And pull me back from the brink frantically.

But the crowd floats on by, their gazes glazed,

Ignorant to my frantic silent pleas.

I start to go under without a sound,

Sinking slowly where my cries aren't found.

The lonely tide rushes to fill my lungs,

Flooding my soul with its harshness stung.

I stop struggling to keep myself above,

Allow the cold waters to encapsulate with love.

As I descend into its lifeless comfort below,

A strange sense of peace starts to grow.

The loneliness wraps its arms around,

And for once I've stopped drowning in crowds.

Carried into the deep where no one can see,

The isolation I once feared, now sets me free.

A final exhalation as the waters ascend,

My vision grows dimmer as my life starts to end.

Down here in the dark, detached and remote,

The lonely crowd now just a distant note.

As my last breath leaves in a soundless sigh,

I close my eyes as the light starts to die.

The cold emptiness takes me into its fold,

A deadly embrace, but at least not alone.

As my body goes limp I start to float astray,

Adrift in the dark, life slowly fades away...