Okay

“Are you okay?”

If I were anything less than okay,

Would you still want to be my friend?

If I told you I wear kohl

To distract you from my tired eyes

Swollen from a night of stifled screams

Would you still want to look at me?

I sit at work

I remember techniques, I know protocols

But I’m hollow

Would you still hire me?

I remember how to love

I remember how to laugh

But if I took a break

Would you still want me around?

What if I told you I’ve lost my spirit

It was stolen by chaos

Of doubt, of an apathy fighting with itself

Would you still want to listen to me?

When you talk to me

I often don’t know who is responding

Would that scare you away?

Would you want me despite my melancholy?

My latent, trigger-happy melancholy

Would you feel a need for me

If you knew my warmth was practised?

“Of course I’m okay”