friendship or pretense? | Titiksha Sampath

the whispers grow intense by the second

sending shivers down my spine

they're talking (am I the topic?)

we laughed at each other's jokes not long ago

two hours later and it's down to

empty stares, cold smiles and unspoken words

what's wrong (you ask)

what's wrong (literally my question)

nothing (everything)

nothing (am I losing my mind?)

the last few pages of my journal

nervously scribbled reminders

breathe

breathe

breathe

am I delusional?

the air I reminded myself to breathe in

is filling my lungs with lies and hatred

the blood in my heart is contaminated

and i decide, before (it) they kill(s) me

I need to cut them out of my heart.

have never been the one to do good with crowds

nevertheless I tried so hard to fit

but I never belonged in your puzzle

so I cut pieces of myself to find a place for me

until I couldn't identify who I was anymore

the bruises from where I cut myself

bled until there was no blood left

and my body is purple

darker than the bruises left behind

and my body is purple

like the poison that replaced my blood

now they're at my funeral

white roses in their hands

but my eyes spot the thorns

thorns I believed I deserved

everyone is in black

black the colour of my coffin

black the colour of their hearts

but I see them in red

the blood that drained out of me

is now smeared all over them

dripping down their fingertips

and I realize

they cut my heart out

before I could cut them out of my heart.