Somewhere between

breathing in and breathing out

comes this wave

of melancholy,

like salt to a snail

the only defense

is to crumple

back into a shell,

drained is all sense

is all sympathy

buried beneath

the weight,

sinking

deeper, deeper

into

this chair,

like a prisoner

wrongfully accused

without the funds

to buy a voice,

but time

is a cruel saint

without regard

for its hands,

that never miss a beat

or waver indefinitely

like this melancholia

that rests a while,

waiting for

another breath

to break up

the sea again.