In a sea of faceless creatures I stand.
Like them and separate at the same time.
Part of everything and nothing.

I see them, hear them, but I do not touch them.
I keep myself separate from the whole
And let nothing, no one near me.

Their ways are not mine, not real.
They are all marionettes dancing on a stage
While I alone am the audience.

They make so many strange sounds.
None of it intelligible, all of it babble -
But sometimes, I understand words . . .

I keep them all away - wish them gone.
Sometimes, one rises above the rest, gets close. . .
But it never survives . . . it is so weak.

I watch it rise and fall so quickly,
But I never let my hope rise with it
Because I know its sad and sudden fate.

I remove myself from this distasteful world,
Refuse to be a part of what I so despise
And remain a distant void unto myself.

With eyes of ice, I gaze at them through a vale,
With a heart of stone, I take it all in
And none of it becomes part of me.

I stand amid thousands, and still stand alone -
Alone because they don’t touch me in any way,
Alone in that I feel nothing for any of them.

In my solitude, I see them as they truly are -
I see the entirety of the truth no one wants to see.
People fear me for this vision, for this secret knowledge.

This is my reward - I know the truths of life,
I see people for what they truly are inside.
I witness both the light . . . and the darkness.

I see into everyone, but myself.
I see nothing in me, nothing at all is there
I am numb to those around me, numb to the world.

I did this to myself, I allowed it to happen.
This has been my own fall from grace
And I am not afraid.

In a sea of faceless creatures I stand.
Unlike anything they have ever known
Because I am not like them -- I am nothing.