It’s like you’re on top of the fucking world. The big city lights, the pretty people around you, the happy couples and the shiny children, they all seem to be living. You’re not, but it still feels like you’re on top of the world.
Si esti bolnav si iti accepti conditia. Ti-ai petrecut atata timp incercand sa te vindeci si n-a mers, acum va trebui sa inveti sa traiesti asa, bolnav, infectat, contagios. Sangele ti-e murdar, pielea ti-e patata si esti plin, plin de cratere. Diform si oribil si prins intr-o boala autoimuna, incapabil sa mai tii pasul cu lumea de-afara. Te afunzi in propria ta mocirla, in timp ce-ti soptesti din nou lectiile pe care le-ai invatat, cu greu, in ultimii ani.
On a bus, surrounded by hundreds of cars with hundreds of people, people you’ll never meet, you’ll never know, people you still might dream of, and you’re just sitting there, barely breathing, looking at them through the dirty glass with thousands of stories and not seeing anything. You’re numb and not quite human and it still feels like you’re running a thousand miles per hour to places you don’t want to be in ever again, but you can’t find a cure. You’re infected, you’ve been for a while now.
Si e adevarat ca unele lucruri nu se schimba niciodata, dar tu aici nu prea mai ai nimic de facut. N-o sa primesti nimic inapoi, asa ca tine-ti, ce ti-a mai ramas, pentru tine. Nu mai crede in basme si-n cantece fericite si-n masti si-n oameni, pentru ca nu-ti permiti sa te mai pierzi vreodata. Strange bine ce mai ai si fugi, fugi cat te tin picioarele, nu te uita inapoi. Poate vantul o sa-ti curete pielea si parul, poate oasele ti se vor intari pe drum si sangele ti se va purifica singur. Poate in plamani o sa ai si altceva in afara de praf. Stii? Poate nu-i chiar atat de greu.
And sometimes you seem to be getting better. You laugh and feel and ARE genuinely happy on your own, because the music’s loud in your headphones and your hair looks good and you feel pretty enough to be there, in the middle of the crowd, like any other person. You take every step to places you’ve seen 836953 times already, like the world is yours. That’s YOUR street, that’s YOUR subway train and that’s YOUR school and YOUR table in YOUR classroom. And you think you’re fine and your blood is clean…
Si daca nu se poate, daca boala o sa roada si-o sa-ti consume fiinta pana la infinit, atunci vei sti ca tu, copile, ai iubit cu intensitatea unei furtuni, a unei explozii vulcanice. Ai urme crestate-n piele de la o iubire care a avut viteza luminii, iar pentru ce-ai simtit tu n-a inventat nimeni vreun antidot.
… but everything stops and your heart goes mad and suddenly you’re blind, blind to the world and the happy and shiny and colorful and all you feel is the same God-shaped hole full of nothing. It’s still there, right in the middle of your fucking chest and your soul’s still cracked and your pieces are still not glued together. Missing pieces have not found their way back home yet and you really wonder if there’s any point in hoping they ever will.
***
“… yes, actually I have. I’ve seen the rain… a thousand times before. It burned my skin like acid and it reminded me of you.”