YOU hold me hostage

Watercolor on paper.

15x11"

Original watercolor artwork "YOU hold me hostage" 2023 by Ala Ilescu Watercolor on 140 lb paper 11" x 15".Vertical position. Signed. This is the original painting from the art/ poetry book that I published in 2023 "My sad is sadder than yours" Here is the poem featured with this painting:
you moved in with me
little by little
step by step
stored your clothes
in my drawer
placed your slippers
at my door
(quietly)
wrote your name down
on my doorbell
put your toothbrush
next to mine
step by step
little by little
you moved in with me

so gradually
I didn’t see
or hear
you coming

and now you decide
whether I sleep
or lay awake all night
whether I eat
or feel nauseous all the time

you decide
whether I get up
or stay in bed all day
whether I step outside
or hide myself away

you hold me hostage
in my own body
in my own home
rob me of everything
I thought I owned

it’s not mine anymore
it’s yours
nothing’s mine anymore
it’s all yours.

[ my disease is a freeloader.]
Michaela Malek