there is blankness
when you first see
the emptiness of the void
reflected
in the youth’s eyes
witnessing them be
euthanized
shredded
reduced
left with nothing
but littered sighs
tattered lies
cannibalized
and despised
because the only thing
the world ever does
is take
deflate
and remake
churning them
into something less
as the river of time
undulates
ever faster