dream thinner

Bells rocked the sound of hello
With no recourse or path to make
Amends with the guilt
Foaming at her mouth
Breaking her throat

Wrong medications coming out
Hard to keep up with past sins
Released to a demon amongst the midst
That rearranged the tracks in her mind
Won’t get better in the lost files

Daunted daughters hanging in skies
Not strong enough to be mothers
but wear their gowns
In wards where no one says
it is going to get better

Dreams become thinner
Empty dreamers eat dinner
through expired time
Lives not lived. One day she thought
she would be a star

Not a file to be lost in carts
That can’t even erase this can’t
even frame it well enough
For her to see herself
past this illness or without its scars.

Uzomah Ugwu is a poet/writer and multi-disciplined artist. Her poetry, writing, and art have been featured in various publications and galleries internationally. She is a political, social, and cultural activist. Her core focus is on human rights, mental health, animal rights, and the rights of LGBTQ persons.