Thief in the Night

It leaves me

lifeless,

yet aching:

a corpse

suffering in silence —

hiding behind

an overzealous smile,

a forced laugh,

a forged confidence.

It leaves me

straddling the line between

chaos and nothingness —

lost and afraid.

It leaves my heart and mind full

of white noise:

meaningless chatter

at a volume so

deafening

it can no longer be heard,

its details incomprehensible.

It leaves me

in a palpably agonizing

state of emptiness —

not emptiness as in

the absence of pain,

but rather

its overabundance.

It is

the monster in my soul:

slowly but surely

eating away at my joy;

eroding my sense of self;

stealing my peace;

destroying my very being.

It is here for me now,

this thief in the night;

my time has come;

my joy,

my hope,

my world,

are crushed.