u/Basic_Candy_6967

I am free, yet chained with doubt.
Every step, the links grip tighter.
I gasp for air—
only to choke on regret.

They tell me, “Look forward to the future.”
I must be missing something.
All I see is grey—
people and objects
reduced to
blurs and blobs.

“Wake up and smell the roses.”
Whatever I smell, it isn't roses.
Rotten. Impure. Wrong...
Maybe it's me.

“A thousand paths lie ahead,”
Yet every bridge crossing is already burning...
Another burden,
another chain.

I stand here,
holding—
stumbling...

Then I realise

I am

free.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vkzu88/comment/p4q7lex/?context=3

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vssrbv/comment/p4q2q4f/?context=3

Hello, how can I help?

You want to withdraw money from your account you say?

Well sorry but the banks say

-

NO

-

You can't,

you can't be trusted with your own money

how do we know you're not trying to con us?

No your proof of ID and bank card isnt enough.

-

We want to know what you're doing with that money.

Why do you need this amount? What exactly are you planning to do with it?

What are you buying? Do you have documentation for what you’re buying,

a quote? A receipt? A seller’s details?

How did you get it?

Where did it come from? Who paid you? Where's the proof?

Are you aware this looks irregular?

Can you walk us through the last 6 months of your financial transactions, in fact lets make it a year.

Are you working? Can you provide proof of employment? A letter from your employer?

We would also like someone other than a relative, a friend, or colleague, or anyone else to prove you are who you say you are.

-

Of course this is all for your own security.

It is our money after all.

-

Oh this is all done for your own protection

-

What do you mean this is

insulting,

demeaning,

humiliating?

You forgot belittling.

-

No sir, we're not calling you an untrustworthy criminal...

just, subtly implying...

Because it's not your money

once you bank with us its ours

and we

do

what we want.

-

At this point we are just going round in circles and you're just clearly wasting my time.

So please move along to the side.

-

Thank you and have a nice day :)

-

Next please!

The world is harsh and doesn’t care about your feelings.

Nor should it,

as we don't for the world.

Not in any meaningful sense.

Plenty of platitudes and empty promises.

Vague and distant...

we all wither.

But that's all fine

because

the world doesn't love you either.

Too late now.

Together we watch it burn.

Bring marshmallows.

It's gonna be toasty.

Our final movement.

My purpose is quite simple,
one task, one purpose.

To reflect reality.

I show it all,
the beauty and the ugliness.
There’s no hiding it from me.

I am simply...

the truth,
your truth.

But not everyone likes that.

What I see is not always
pretty or hopeful.
Sometimes it’s painful, miserable.
That hollow charm and confidence
ebbing away when it's just
you and I.

I’ve seen too many tears
from behind the glass.

Those that stare into me,
I stare back.

Then they reject me.
They curse, hate and rage upon me.

But all I did
was reveal the truth.

It is not I
who failed their expectations.

The sadness is unbearable.
Perhaps that’s why
some hide, avert their eyes.

Perhaps I should too.

Music feeds my soul,

mends my wilting heart,

beguiles the distorting voices,

and drives away the pain.

For a second, for a minute;

a tiny moment…

everything is fine.

Music soothes my soul.

I feel like I have something to say...

but I don't know what.

-

It's there—

in the back of my head,

hiding in the shadows.

Teasing me,

brushing, touching,

touching.

-

It feels so important,

life-changing.

But when I try to find it—

-

GONE.

-

It retreats deeper into my mind,

leading me down another false path.

Time and time again,

I'm left with only frustration.

So I abandon my folly and move on.

-

But my shadow loves to play games,

knows just the right strings to pull.

It’s back—

taunting me, mocking me.

Its outline clear again.

Another false glimmer,

but it stirs my ache—

so I reach for it...

and again

-

gone...

-

Not for the first time,

I'm left frustrated and hollowed.

-

It's a rigged game,

where I am baited time and again.

Just a puppet, strung along

in this shadow game.

-

But I never learn.

-

Because...

I feel like I have something to say...

Staring into emptiness,
I embrace the peace of silence.
The eeriness of the moment catches me
wandering in thought.

In these quiet moments of reflection,
anything seems possible—
no problems unfixable,
flawless solutions just float into being.
While clinging burdens
fade from tired shoulders.

In the dream sanctuary
nothing is impossible.
Reacquainting with old friends,
recalling lost love,
correcting the past.
In this tiny state of quietness…
reality unwinds,
and I…
ascend.

Yet,
fleeting is the moment.
The banging and bleeping of modernity
burst the silence.
Once again,
the mundanity of living
embraces you.

Now staring into sanity,
the dream sanctuary crumbles
offering no protection
and
along with your perfect solution,
it vanishes from view…

Leaving me longing
for
the next quiet moment.

your battery’s running on low,

everything is muted,

thoughts wander unformed,

words become…

-

an uphill struggle,

and

-

silence

says it all.