are we the dead shuffling faceless   an aimless mass of corpses awaiting a not so distant end   numb to pleasure numb to pain   overwhelmed by our surroundings and the traps   we have laid?   to protect innocence from arrogance   we carve this skin of stone   and as the weights of caste and character layer   with the years   we drown at the convergence   of rivers poisoned by this world   each moment i let slip by   every feeling i sacrifice   the emotions which i deny   drag me down into the depths