A stray thought in an otherwise empty mind,
One that forces it to look beyond
The daily grind.

Gazing inwards at the stark landscape
That is now her mind,
Once active, once engaged,
In its humdrum thoughts, now merely caged.

Stark with the stubs of unfulfilled dreams,
Littered with the ashes of hopes that were,
In a forgotten corner, an almost snuffed out fire gleams.

Dazzled by possibilities yet engulfed by doubts,
Each stead a measured hope, a prudent gamble;
Her toes wet in this ocean,
Its swollen ebb and receding flow
Not unlike her turbid thoughts,
Clouding her otherwise clear aims.

Thoughts spurring her aims,
At once, introspective and inconclusive;
She spirals into an abyss,
Both laborious and labyrinthine,
Observant and oblivious,
Clawing her way out of its crevices,
Hanging tenuously onto its jagged rocks.

She seeks solace in the bonds she forges,
Bonds like mere wisps,
Tenuous and brittle,
Yet fulfilling in their fragility;
A glimpse of normality over shared interests and memories,
A clear patch of sun, in an otherwise overcast sky.

Amidst it all, betwixt these chasms
Resounds the voice in her head,
Searing a trail of cacophony and chaos,
Yet a fleeting calm amidst the storm.