they stood around me
the silent whispers
with their shrouded shells
happy birthday echoed in the distance
filtering my imagination
but they- they consumed me
they angled their contorted faces so they could be seen under my shut eyes
they whispered, in my voice, all of the horrors i feared
and i sat there and listened, like a prisoner on their death sentence
i listened because i had nothing else
no one else
the cake was a mist
and the song was a lie
it was my birthday
i was eighteen
but all that surrounded me were the shrouded men
they watched and they listened
they made me feel like reaching eighteen was a wasteful feat
that i could've been six years dead not six years living
and i sat and i listened
my body shook with the cold, harsh wind
and i breathed.
© Judith Mallya