Somewhere deep within me
Exists a touch of gray
An empty space
Hollow and unfeeling
in every respect
Sometimes I like to go there
Hide from the world
And the pain that consumes me
Embrace the gloom
and forget identity
Deep within me
Reaching out far beyond
My darkest depths
Far beyond sanity
Reality left behind
Escaping now what little exists
A new level
No longer me
My body sits motionless
My mind hides in darkness
Fearing the light of the outside
The world that forced it to retreat
No longer open your arms to me
You will not save me
I am alive, but dead to you
I am there, but not here
Not with you
Visiting with my soul
And the empty space within
That slowly consumes
I remain untouched
Unloved
Far within this hollow space
Feeling only what I felt in life
Empty
Forgotten
Unloved
(c) Joshua J. Johnson, 1997