In my eyes, words create links that connect us from where we hang. A net from falling through the pits of lost thoughts and fleeting connections. We rely upon the scriptures of past poets to relinquish the doubts of existence. For in what world would we subsist on the generated means of normativity. 

I sat in a bed. In my eyes an ocean. The white sheets curled in, surrounding me in waves of resilience. The window was cracked. I could see the giants lingering across the street, the sun teasing me between the masses. In my eyes, the giants confined me. As in my tower, I crept across the bedroom floor and slithered to my reflection. I cast my gaze upon the empty shell of harrowed intent. In my eyes a shadow. The hollow spheres gaped back as I shuttered my breath. I was enveloped; it sunk through my skin like thunder and bolted into my chest. The bed was a haven to which I quickly sought rescue. I drowned. My mind drained, devoid of a single utterance. Even if I wanted to, my lips trembled with a slight indication of hesitance. And though my hands shook with the same fervor, they succeeded in pressing play. The words flooded me in adornments of calamity and resurrected me from the waves. 

Look on down from the bridge

There's still fountains down there

The tremors that overtook me soothed into a calamity that wrapped me in a fleeting ceasefire. While the words echoed to the mountains, they reverbed off the concrete, trailing entanglements in my ear. Tendrils of rumination suspended me from where I lay.

Everybody seems so far away from me

Everybody just wants to be free

Channels torn ajar by the testaments of life lived funneled crashing torrents of veracity. The ripples from where they stood will not cease, and in my whirlpool of solitude, I floated to the top. The impertinent intent of lingering speculations played a symphony in my mind, crossing the words of doubtful lovers. 

I can't be the same thing to you now

I'm just gone, just gone

He said, “You like words, don’t you?” 

I sputtered in agreeance, “Yeah, I do.”

His eyes looked upon mine, “then use them.”

And so I did. 

Words exchanged turned to words remembered. The gripping regrets released their plunging grasp, a light cast over the waves. In my eyes, I became new. 

Signing off,

Chloe Pham

Lyrics by Mazzy Star

Written by Chloe Pham, Photography: Atithi Shrestha, Social Media: Ellianah Murcia, Stying: Carlee Dillon, Chloé Golden