you ask me why I don’t sleep at night,
why I work while everyone is dreaming,
what makes the absence of light a preference,
and see,
it’s not that I don’t understand your question,
or that I don’t have an answer,
but I’m afraid you’ll not listen
how loud are your thoughts
in the dark,
like being underwater,
when your heartbeat echoes in your bones,
beat after beat after beat
while the oxygen burns in your lungs,
and see,
it’s like that for me when everyone’s dreams
are deafening,
a deep blue silence that keeps my body afloat
and my mind from drowning