How It Feels to Be 5 Gum

 

I am hollow and brittle and ready to crumble

If I curl up too much, I’ll collapse in on myself

I am aimless

I am nigh-formless

I am a beam of light flying from a star,

    on a perfect trajectory to never hit anything

        along my path

I feel as though I cannot breathe

    even though I am

My legs are numb

I feel as though someone has ripped out my left lung

I feel as though someone has replaced my stomach’s butterflies

    with moths

My hands ought to be translucent

My lungs are laden with the inexpressible

I am the stubborn eyebrow-hair finally being plucked out

I am a moonbeam missing the Earth and flying away

I am a comet that will burn up before impact

I am an eraser’s shavings being swept from a desk

I won’t last too much longer