you asked me to make a flip book
about our lives
but i drowned
in the animation.

sharp strands of charcoal
began to engulf me

all i could see were

flickers & glimmers of 2D characters,
mechanical dances devoid of colour.

i found it difficult to differentiate
between the physical &
the existential

i would hallucinate
nausea
until i actually vomited,
hot seething piles all around the bed.

some mornings,
you would go down to the street,
just to place your palm
on the pedestrian crossing button

and feel the slight pulse
of its steady beep
echo through your body
like the heartbeat
of a small animal.