Life In The Shadows

Smiles have always been eclipsed by illness,
it’s tight grip on blood, bones, brain, and hormones
igniting superficial interest
in jargon-addicted, fact-hoarding drones
paid to shadow what little light arrives
to brighten my pain-addled life; syringe
and clipboard-wielding gargoyles haunt my nights.
Good days find me clutching sanity’s fringe
as if its fraying strings house deities
willing to sweep this barren land from me.