Lost

Pills to Pills, Day by Day Some thoughts are too heavy to speak, so I swallow them down with water, bitter aftertaste lingering, like the weight I carry in silence. I never meant to live like this— counting pills instead of dreams, measuring time in doses, just to keep breathing, just to be seen. For others, life is a race to success, but for me, it’s just making it from morning to night without drowning in my own mind. I lie awake, staring at the ceiling, telling myself that peace exists, that maybe, just maybe, tomorrow won’t feel like a war. But reality whispers otherwise— I wake up just to survive, dragging my bones through another day, wondering if this is all there is. They say it’s okay not to be okay, but is it still okay when every day feels the same, and survival is the only thing I achieve? -Kashish Anita Chaudhary