This home is a vacuum

Slowly sucking the air from my lungs and the light from my eyes

I'm suffocating and I can't even scream as I die

Because my voice is being swallowed

So I suffer in silence

Forced to be the pushover I adamantly refused I was

The clock ticks down to when I am able to escape

But another keeps track of how long I have until I explode

And I don't know which is closer to zero

And I won't know until one of them reaches the end

And I'm paralyzed with the fear that its end will be my end

But saved by the knowledge that its end is invariably the end of my suffering

So I continue to remain silent

Not willing to use my voice even if I had the ability

Hoping that I will one day be able to scream my freedom to the heavens instead of from them