nothing works right here
doors swell shut
lights flicker out

I give it all,
still feels half-finished
like a song cut mid-chorus

the people I love
leave limping
like I’m bad luck
that rubs off

so I turn cold,
keep distance,
wear silence like armor

meanwhile my body
is a clock with missing gears,
ticks, stalls,
ticks, stalls

still, I drag forward
through the static,
through the rust,
through the weight