I don’t need to speak.

You hear me anyway.

 

You’re guarded,

one eye on me —

but when you least expect,

you’ll realize

you’ve lost so much.

 

You know you feed me

with every second you waste.

 

You stay awake in the dead of night

because you fear the next dawn,

yet you always

fall asleep in the end.

 

Years have passed,

and you’ve lost so much.

 

I don’t speak, yet—

 

I’ve claimed your dreams,

your body,

your chance to dance,

your mother,

and even your marriage.

 

So you plan,

with your little post-it notes,

measuring me

to save yourself.

 

But even as you do that,

I’m eating you whole—

and I hunger for more.

 

I’m hungry

because you keep running