On days like this

On days like this I close my eyes, smearing my tears away
Drowning deep in the waters, swirling without grace
Embraced by vast blueness, swallowed without notice
A million droplets dancing, evaporating to mists.

On days like this I numb my mind, flying afar
Disappearing via the horizon, reemerging with stars
Up above, constellations forming like musical notes
Unsung though, burst and burned in my choked-up throat.

On days like this I empty my ears, hoping to hear
The sound of silence that’s been lost for years
Miming broken words never once confessed
Seconds, minutes, hours slipping by in soundlessness.

On days like this I walk barefooted to the woods
Feeling the cooling stones, retracing forgotten roots
Fire flickering, breezes whispering, daylight receding
A lonesome wanderer’s promise triggering.

On days like this I fall asleep, refusing to awaken
Unchronologically journey through all the seasons
Pausing in autumn, prolonging sunsets
Radiating orange brilliance, shining through darkness.

On days like this I surrender to misery,
Calculating each and every insecurity
Deaf and blind and mute, unresponsive to optimism
Defeated by days like this, of romanticized depression.

Originally published at facebook.com/linh.n.dao/notes on August 9, 2014.