Shards of My Voice

The thought is clear,

But when I speak, it breaks apart again.

A steady line

Turns into scattered noise and twisted strain.

I shape the words,

But something pulls them out of place and time.

A simple truth

Falls into fragments that refuse to rhyme.

My voice misfires,

Letters crashing like a crooked wave.

I try to hold

The meaning steady, but I cannot save

The message that

Should rise and stand with honest, solid breath-

It tumbles out

And leaves me stranded in a living death.

Inside, I'm speaking right-

Clear phrases, full of light-

But once they reach the air,

The world forgets my meaning there.

Hear me-

Though I fall apart.

I'm trying

To reveal my heart.

But every word I push outside

Returns to me in broken tide.

I call, I plead, I try to stand-

But all you hear is

Shaking sand.

The mouth moves on

Without the mind that tries to guide its path.

My fluent self

Is torn to pieces by this aftermath.

I hear the slip

Before the sentence leaves my trembling lips-

I want to stop,

But something twists the sound and slowly rips

The meaning loose,

Until I'm left with syllables that bleed.

And every time

I try again, I fail at higher speed.

I know how words should be-

In shape, in symmetry-

But once they leave my chest,

They shatter into something less.

Hear me-

Though my voice is torn.

Believe me-

Though my speech is worn.

The world receives

A broken stream,

While I speak truth

Inside the dream.

I try, I break,

I rise, I fall-

The glitch devours

My every call.