AN ABANDONED LAKE

I am an abandoned lake,
Seething and foaming with anger,
As people pass by without so much as a glance,
The way they do with sadness,
That makes them uncomfortable.

I was once beautiful and shimmering,
Once full of life and biodiversity.
I was once the way a person is,
Before the world teaches them
How to go quiet.
I was once a beauty,
Once photographed and framed,
Remembered only at my best,
And this is proof that I was lovable,
When I was easy to look at.

And now,
Now I’m suffocating on their trash,
On their careless words and unmet needs,
On their silence mistaken for strength.
I’m dying from their coldness,
From their distance dressed up as normal.

They call me rot.
A problem.
They call me a threat to the ecosystem,
The way they call a depressed mind,
Toxic, draining, way too much
As if I chose this,
As if neglect were not cumulative.

They fear what I’ve become,
But refuse to sit beside me long enough
To notice that I’m still water.
I am not empty.
I am overwhelmed.
I am an abandoned lake,
And this is what a human looks like,
When left without care.