Pin-pricks of Consciousness

When a smile reminds you of smiles you no longer receive,

You run, run, runaway until your feet burn and your lungs cramp.

When salt drops cannot be restrained, you hide your head in your arms

And pretend the moisture there is your sweat.

When the world of deception you have built around yourself crumbles,

You are left in the shambles of today, of pain, of reality.

Then you know, then you know, you breathe.

When legs are knee high in mud and mire,

Your eyes no longer find the will to look up.

When the dream of a life of perfection shatters like

A fragile crystal globe, pretty, ostentatious, unnecessary,

Then you know, then you know, you live.