I long to scream, yet my voice withers at the core of my throat.
I yearn to laugh, but the mirth dries on my lips before it blooms.
I crave to soar high and free, yet I brutally tear at my own wings.
The air grows suffocating, even beneath the open, expansive sky.
Will I face death once again?
Perish as I have in the past?
Shall I be reborn into my former, liberated self if I embrace death now?
Or am I destined to die only to sink deeper than ever before?
-ANUSKA MANDAL, BC’J (1st year), 2332006
