The Non-Awakening

It’s the silent prison you didn’t consent to but no kicking or screaming or asking the government to represent you just click ‘accept’ and without trial or due process you slip into shackles that dig deep in your flesh until there is no separation. Then too late: it was in the small print you never read when you clicked ‘I do’. ‘Yes’ once had meaning but if this was real life you’d have said ‘we need to talk’ a long time ago. Panic would rise and you would tell your friends about your fears of being stalked silently. But instead you get lulled to sleep by the warmth of a face that watches you all night long and holds your hand, in a vice like grip, when you wake.