‘Brain Storm’ by Zizz Woodward, age 14, Year 9, Coleridge Community College

The throbbing in my head as I

weave my way through tales and tell-tale

lies, woven into tight knit blankets, smothering,

suffocating the screams of the souls hidden

under the surface, desperately clambering, climbing,

gasping for air, cowering behind the smiles and

laughter and the mask covering the long-forgotten face

of fear and horror that can’t be shaken, as something

deep inside roars, thrashing about in the depths,

lurking in shadows, stealthily sneaking through passageways

scattered at random inside in a maze, endless, no escape,

far away screams, dancing hauntingly through thoughts

and dreams, wandering, wondering, when will it end,

for all eternity waiting on miracles that never come and never will,

until slowly, slowly,

ever so slowly,

the light

goes

out.