Withdrawal

I miss how it rolled in
peeling me away from reality
like the skin of a snake
discarded and separate
that’s how I wanted to be
preserved, abandoned
my life, glacial and still
unchanged

until the climate shifted
and monolithic slabs
tumbled into the too-warm sea
making mountainous waves
in that shapeless place
where I thought
everything was just fine
because
why should time move forward?

I held part of myself
motionless for far too long
I’ve been so afraid