# 43 (jeff)

his day is full of sparkle and shine
he walks down the halls, living on borrowed time
but he lives it up, takes it for all he can get
it's the only refuge he can take from regret
that swamps him at the end of the day
when the sparkle fades away

his life passes by in the switching of masks
with his friends he's the cool one, the best, and he basks
in the person he turns into when he's around them
but that leaves the time when he's not with his friends
he feels dead, he feels numb, he feels gone
solitary, just waiting for dawn.

it's been a long time since he's been touched this way
since something real came to him and took him away
from his carefully hidden silence and gloom
from the person he is, alone in his room
he sees now that he was asleep
silenced by all of the secrets to keep

his only fear now is that he might fall back
that the light and the air seeping in through the crack
in his armor will leave him and someday he'll fade
that he'll suffocate and he'll wither away
to the ghostly prisoner he knows
surrounded by friends, all alone.