Deep Exhaustion

By Elizabeth Harper

Deep Exhaustion

Unable to move
Don’t want to wake up
Struggle to get out of bed

When I do
In the mirror
I see sleep lines in my skin
Red stripes on my arms and back
Impressions left by wrinkled sheets

I am marked by my own deep exhaustion
Unbearable weight
Death-like gravity
Pulling me to the deep earth
Buried oblivion of my dreams

Don’t want to get out of bed
Don’t want to live in the world the way it is
Every voice is toxic sludge
Penetrating me and weighing me down