A Welcome Shadow

By Shambhavi Kulkarni

As I sit basking in the summer heat,

an amalgamation of emotions have swept over me

every subtle noise feels too loud,

every brush against my hand, too invasive

every task, a burden-

brushing my teeth this morning,

felt like climbing a damn mountain

my ribs ache now

from the hollowness I've fabricated within,

my stomach, an empty vacuum,

hell-bent on resisting every morsel of food it receives.

I've grown weary, my love

this life feels a bit too much,

isolation has always come easy

as though an ever-welcome shadow at my door,

it knocks to be let in and demands its grand arrival be seen,

as I hide away under cold sheets,

and drown amidst this ever-flowing pool of past miseries

By Shambhavi Kulkarni