Empty Inside

by Skye Haerrington

I am merely a shell of what I had once been.
The love which had animated me, made me whole
Is nothing more than a bittersweet memory
I am cold inside, filled to the brim with a
Never ending wasteland. I long to return
To the world of the living but I shrink
Back for fear of rejection. The possibility
Of pain is too great a risk to take, a risk
That by far outweighs the small chance
Of me reaching my planned destination
I want to love. I want nothing more than to be
Loved, but we live in a world where the most
Cherished dreams are rarely granted and when
They are, life never became what the dreamer
Had hoped. The world is a cruel trickster
And so, to save myself the great injury and
Take my revenge upon the world by providing
It with no amusement, I have made myself
As a shell on the beach: broken and empty inside.