I scream into silence, voice raw and thin, 
But the echoes just fade, never reaching within. 
I'm pouring out pain, begging to break— 
But no one can hear how much I ache. 

The darkness is empty, the void never stirs, 
And my pleas slip away like unheard words. 
So I drown in the quiet, swallowed by night, 
Alone with my fear, alone with the fight. 

I'm crying for help that never comes near, 
Choking on loneliness, lost in the fear. 
Because what's worse than the hurt that I hide— 
Is the silence that swallows me whole from inside. 

     — Choke , 10/3/24