Passing Clouds

At first I mistake it for a hesitant cloud No, perhaps a wandering gust of wind Xenial in its arrival, but temporary enough to be ignored It waits in the insignificant moments Echoing as a subtle, steady hum beneath the silence Taking the shape of a harmless thought Yet it hesitates, as persistent as a rumor that refuses to fade A presence hidden between the lines, unnoticed until it fills every space it builds a home inside my head and fills every corner with an ear-piercing shriek, no longer a hum it follows me beneath the fluorescent lights of school whispers through laughter shared with friends sits beside me among familiar faces i can no longer ignore the ominous haze as I fall into sleep's embrace it will not allow me a moment of peace it destroys the walls of my once silent, serene dreams planting roots of chaos where well-kept peace once grew my garden of hopes and dreams where comforting golden sunlight once poured through the vines, and harmony bloomed like flowers is no longer untouched the warm glow that once filled my thoughts fractures into violent storms splintering my mind like fragile glass the trees that once stood tall and steady now bend beneath the weight of endless winds their branches groan and cry with me against the storm vines twist through the soil thrashing wildly beneath the storm that are no longer part of the garden they wrap around me they pull they hold me beneath their endless weight I search for an exit a path a gate a light but the vines grow stronger they tighten they steal my breath my movement my hope. this is no longer a dream but an eye-opening reality of the monster that runs rampant in my mind my once safe sanctuary crumbles around me i am left buried beneath the ruins of the dream I would hide in night after night in the midst of the dark chaos a light appears a wish a wish of long-awaited serenity a wish that has been withheld for far too long i let out a breath the winds soften the vines loosen their grip the golden light finds its way back home my once garden of dreams stills with the absence of the storm it is now but a passing cloud