One More Time

Tiredness creeps up on you
From places long forgotten.
Quiet, silent, nothing but shadow
And then it’s suddenly there—
A grey blanket of wretchedness,
Wrapping tight,
Smothering light
And you wonder—
Why didn’t you see it coming?

It hits in the middle of conversation,
That weight, that heaviness,
That sense that being alive is too much.
You smile, you nod, you laugh
But you’re sinking, you’re suffocating
Your soul’s aching to dissolve,
Longing to feel free.

Existence presses down,
Heavy, relentless, unmoving
You want nothing more
Than to escape your own skin.
Than to escape the walls closing in.

But you can’t—
So you bury yourself in work to quiet the voices.
Tasks that keep your hands moving,
Your mind numb.
You build your own cage
And you lock it with your guilt and shame.

You watch as everyone else dances outside
Living, laughing, loving.
Resentment creeps in—
Even though it shouldn’t.
You stepped into the cage willingly,
You locked it and you hold the key.

But then—
There are flashes of memory.
Sitting in a shaft of sunlight,
Late-night video calls with old friends, laughing endlessly
Reels you sent to your sister,
Phone calls with your mom that you wish could last forever.
Pages of texts you’ve saved,
Complaining with a classmate—
Little pockets of light.

Sometimes, it feels doable.
You stand at the edge of the cage,
Looking out at the world.
You ask your bleeding soul,
One more time?

~Hamsini Raj ~

Writer’s Introduction : I’m a writer just starting out, and I’m fascinated by the art of storytelling. My imagination comes alive in fantasy, fiction, crime, and horror—genres where you never know what’s coming next. To me, writing is all about picking out the most magical bits of our ordinary lives and holding them up to the light. I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me next!

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