In a Room

alone in a crowd

In a room

In a sea of faces I don’t recognize

Searching for familiar eyes, my stomach turns

My palms, jealous of my dry eyes, sweat

A survival instinct I bet

An instinct I wish would disappear

I wish I could disappear

Into this mass of people

Laughing people

A crowd content but for one

Who passes through unnoticed by most

But some…

I feel their eyes on me; I hear my shoes squeak inward

They wave

Relief washes over me as I wave

As my smile forms their smiles fade

Pity-filled eyes that looked past me now look at me

I’ve made a mistake and I feel it creeping, crawling on my skin

Their friend brushes past my numbing limbs

He joins them and shares the anxious thought that weighs

Heavy on giggling wings

Light fluttering butterfly wings

My fingers grow cold but my face burns red

A signal that warns of social dangers ahead

 

Reviews

[Eric Cox]

A bad experience in a room is penned nicely with very good descriptions.

[Enigma]

You'rve more or less captured the essence of what people feel when they are unable to connect with many people. Something like inferiority complex or maybe just plain shyness. I can relate to what you've said here because I've fought the same feeling countless times now. Sometimes, I'd rather be alone, live cucooned in my own tiny bubble of reality. Excellent work. :D

[Kat_Flowers]

This tells a story very well, which is always tough to do in poem format. Really well executed in my humble opinion!