dead

I died.

I've been dead for years,

My body has been

my soul's coffin,

A wooden frame of flesh

Each bone a nail

pinning me inside.

My ribs are like a cage for ghosts

Trapping all the screams

no one hears.

I walk through life like a procession

A funeral that never ends,

People send their condolences

with empty words,

But they don't realize,

This smile is just a wreath

Like funeral flowers,

Arranged to hide the decay beneath.

My heartbeat is the toll of the bell,

Marking time until the finaI decay,

And my breath?

It's just the wind that passes

Over a grave no one visits.

-Ritvik