Today was a day. Not in a sense of external events whirling past like a cloud of dark little birds, intent on migrating from one place to another, but in a sense of internal convolutions whirling around like a cloud of little dark birds intent on breaking free. Many succeeded, flying from my mouth and into the sky. Some would only twitch my eyebrow. Most stayed inside.

People at this stage are basically walking bird cages in dire need of repair.

I cover myself at night with a blanket, hoping that the little birds will be fooled into sleeping. I feed them conversations, bits of news and trivia, a view of a bridge being beautiful in the morning. I stop in my tracks, tilting head to one side, listening to the voices inside. How are they?

They do not die, but when abandoned, they fall silent. One day the cage will disappear, and the birds will be free.