Hello all,

As I know a lot of you keep up with my work through email rather than on the app itself, I thought I’d send out a message.

Thirty posts in, and for the past 8 Months, StillSymbols has mostly existed as my short observations accompanied by my black & white photos.

That won’t be going anywhere.

But lately, I’ve found myself wondering what some of these ideas might become with a bit more breathing room.

So, I’d like to share I’ve started working on my first longer piece.

Which I’ll be sharing next Monday.

I’m also hoping to experiment with voiceovers, to prepare me for YouTube superstardom.

We’ll see if it becomes a regular part of the page as time goes on.

A Final Thought:

Thank you for reading.

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Things that have grown old

Don’t always share the same birthday.

Phases and obsessions

Between old cases and cupboard doors.

Unreachable.

Wearing an invisible badge

Called someday.

Broken parts and forgotten favourites.

Names unrecognisable.

Lost in size and description.

Would this make our younger selves cry?

That we became too busy

To reach for something special

Even once in a while?

Or is that the guilt

That makes us crave

A long time ago?

If only for the space

Where we sleep.

We still remember

The fading light

Of childhood memories.

A Final Thought

The time was never wasted

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The trees around me

have discovered

A duller shade of summer.

Pylons like pixels.

Uncoloured houses.

No rain to relieve.

Smoke has renamed

These four walls grey.

Shadows grow darker.

Towels disguise the cracks.

Burning rubber

Is the stench of the evening.

From room to room,

It clings to my skin.

Even beneath the covers,

Sleep becomes an invisible flame

Like a memory of a fire

I never expected

to witness

A Final Thought

Let the rain wash away the summer.

StillSymbols

Translator for Texture

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24 days ago · 57 likes · 26 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

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Soft as cotton

Woven in a web of polyester

My wardrobe is full of things

I can almost taste

But never quite wear.

Like fabric grated

Along my tongue

This isn’t a meal

To savour.

I’m just a translator

For texture.

Every label

Leaves material behind

As I claw away

At threads gone by.

Sandpaper sleeves

Bottoms like nettles

My mouth is moving

To an uncomfortable rhythm

Nothing will ever be

As pure

As cotton

Promises to be.

A Final Thought

Enjoy the flavour of what you’re wearing

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Are razor blades used

To shave the hair on my face

Or the skin between my teeth?

Standing before

A mirror so clear,

I don’t know the answer.

Over the sink.

Hairs longer and shorter.

A different patch

Of greenery.

Land that all belongs to me.

Could I take away

A forest I’ve learnt

To call my own?

Or do I take the oath

Of stainless steel.

No matter how incomplete

It may seem.

Shaving cream

Doused like clouds

Hides the effort.

The person in the mirror

Tells no lies

When all it sees

Is me.

A Final Thought

The mirror can’t ask for perfection.

StillSymbols

A Blanket of Pollen and Skin

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a month ago · 59 likes · 26 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

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Has it been weeks?

Could it be months?

Settled neglect

Along the spine

Of these precious stories.

A blanket of pollen and skin.

Routine has slipped,

For the hours lost

Without pages.

Blue speckled feathers.

Dust has become more meaningful

Than words themselves.

Now grey gives way.

Reading glasses are required.

Endless choices

On these black painted shelves.

The lamp illuminates

Freshly washed hands.

I am reunited

With forgotten ink

Once more.

A Final Thought

Don’t forget to dust.

StillSymbols

Stickers of Past Interests

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2 months ago · 61 likes · 26 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

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How will I look at myself
If the numbers aren’t
In a sequence
To my own made-up
Satisfaction.

Busted laptop.

Wireless mouse.

Stickers of past interests.

The only value left
In this long-used memory.

As time moves on
Have I slowly become
The broken-down machine?

Blaming sticky keys
And frozen screens.

For peaks
Not reached.

Numbers
That never
Touched the sky.

Or have I been searching
The wrong place all along.

Whatever the answer,

Half-peeled

Stickers

Can never

Fill

Empty pages.

A Final Thought

Value was never measured in numbers.

StillSymbols

Shaven Ice Caps

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2 months ago · 53 likes · 28 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

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My gums are exposed.

Rolled back to reveal
the dentin of dark yellow.

Like old brittle pages.

A touch of hot and cold
makes roots unbearable.

Half-bites.

Food unwillingly swallowed whole.

These shaven ice caps
I call teeth
make me shiver.

Sometimes I refuse to brush.

Other times, I ground away.

Every meal begins with waiting.

Warm enough to swallow.

Cold enough to bear.

When everything is
room temperature.

Time is decided by sensitivity.

A Final Thought

Some discomforts are more gradual than others.
Yet they still decide your day.

StillSymbols

Black Lines With Red Shading

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2 months ago · 61 likes · 40 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

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A wait that takes forever.

Comes in an instant.

Design after design.

Artist after artist.

Months of second-guessing.

The pain would end.

Permanence wouldn’t.

A fresh canvas.

Tomorrow I will be inked.

Skin on leather,

face to the table.

I was twisted.

Each scratch of the needle

Excitement and doubt.

Meticulous planning meant nothing.

Blood stained my arm.

Music filled my ears.

I looked in the mirror once more.

I will never be the person

That seemed a little more empty

the night before.

A Final Thought

Always second-guess permanence,

if you’re only chasing a temporary feeling.

StillSymbols

Saturday Is Painted Black

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2 months ago · 55 likes · 31 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

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The weekend has a subtle taste.

Caramel.

Dark chocolate.

Raisin.

A distinct flavour,

for a familiar vice.

Shaded corners.

Cork twists free.

Throat burning with gold.

Evenings like these

Start after the first sip.

In-between desperate hours,

ordinary things

are worth celebrating.

Too early or too late.

The numbers mean nothing.

When two becomes three.

And five becomes six.

Night finds

An empty glass.

But the secret tomorrow never tells me

Saturday is painted black.

A Final Thought

Routines come disguised as celebrations.

StillSymbols

Soaking Palms And Clammy Skin

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2 months ago · 52 likes · 39 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← June 21st, 2026

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In this hole of clammy skin

And soaking palms

could shoes be worn

If the laces are already

tied around my neck.

Tears and laughter.

Blood pressure and spasms.

Words I can’t begin to speak.

My chest has no pain.

Yet I remember.

A thousand heart attacks

I convince myself I’ve had before.

When sheer panic refuses to break,

I think of all the mistakes I’ve made.

Like pleading my case

To something I cannot see.

To something that was never there.

If I ever find myself

Making it out of here again.

A Final Thought

Panic is just fear looking for somewhere to stay.

StillSymbols

The Night No Longer Came

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3 months ago · 43 likes · 20 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← June 14th, 2026

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When the night no longer came.

I found myself craving the dusk.

Watching blue sky hold

In the widening gap of dark and light.

The evening seemed further away

With each passing day.

Distant shadows

And empty evening paths

Can sometimes be lost

Between jagged clouds

And sun-drenched hair.

Pooling orange streetlights

of November and December

Become the sunsets

of June and July.

But even when

Summer gave me light,

I still searched for

The familiarity hidden

In the absence of shadow.

A Final Thought

Summer has a way of telling us

more light is better.

More time to do the things

we’ve been meaning to do.

Yet every year I find myself reminded,

not everything grows in the daylight.

← June 7th, 2026

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Cardboard box lies open.

Childhood peeking through.

Forgotten in a corner.

Where the dust settles and light doesn’t go.

The indentation of the carpet remains clear.

It becomes a passing thought.

Upstairs or downstairs.

Inside or outside.

Tuesday or Wednesday.

Today will be the day.

Hands around its worn sides.

Corners peeled back.

Curiosity is racing.

A lifetime of wondering.

Nothing I’ve been searching for.

Nothing I have missed.

A Final Thought

We keep telling ourselves we’ll look tomorrow.

Tomorrow takes a very long time.

StillSymbols

Bedroom Keeps Moving Away

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3 months ago · 25 likes · 23 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

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Morning arrives.

Distortion in the ceiling.

This feeling pierces through.

Sweat on my forehead.

Eyes shake.

Ears are ringing true.

Its motion is sickening.

On the floor I stand bare
How can I feel this drunk
Not a second beyond despair.

Prochlorperazine in its packet.

On top of my drawer.

Water beside it.

I hope it brings me ashore.

What becomes of me
If the bedroom keeps moving away.

How will I find the door?

Prayers for today anyway.

StillSymbols

A Short Trip

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3 months ago · 16 likes · 4 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← May 24th, 2026

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I found myself mesmerised by it.

The pattern of deep grooves and cracks held in the artex.

I could trace each line into a memory I could almost reach,

but never quite keep.

A pale light across the room,

a summer I can’t place.

Wind howling

for an Autumn without a trace.

Seasons slip,

and the small details

blur before me.

StillSymbols

A Thousand Sneezes

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4 months ago · 26 likes · 13 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← May 16th, 2026

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With a nose dripping like a stream down the valley,

winter turns to spring.

Eyes itch. Head swells.

Pollen is in the air.

Curtains open.

Sunlight spills.

Dust dances in the rays.

It’s a beautiful day.

I begin a journey of a thousand sneezes,

one that I’ll shield with the palm of my hand.

Counting and bracing.

It’s never ending.

But as my shoulders finally ease,

and tears roll down my cheeks.

It’s all how it should be.

This perfect morning in Spring.

StillSymbols

Time No Longer Matters

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4 months ago · 18 likes · 4 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← May 9th, 2026

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The clock reads midnight.

Half-asleep.

My bed has never looked this inviting.

Freshly washed,

pungent in its promise of dreams.

I close my eyes.

I’m drifting.

It’s already 2:00am.

Nothing has changed.

Legs stiff as wood.

I check my phone.

No notifications.

Screen now pressed against my glasses.

My thumb forgets it’s even moving.

Halfway gone.

Again.

Each time I look down.

My bedroom fades away.

When time no longer matters.

Neither does tomorrow.

StillSymbols

Quitting Caffeine

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4 months ago · 23 likes · 12 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← May 2nd, 2026

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That debilitating pulse

Ringing through my ears

Like a rubber band tightened across my thoughts.

I can’t focus.

It’s been six days since I quit caffeine.

My posture tells the story.

Desk covered in plastic and tin.

Adjusting and readjusting my chair.

Shoulder blades back.

Hands pressed firmly on my face.

A glimpse of greenery catches my eye.

Visible just outside the right side of the window.

Something about the trees swaying

and the raindrops falling

doesn’t cause the pulse to disappear.

It just makes it a little more bearable.

The rain pours.

I smile and slouch back once more.

StillSymbols

Bliss Of Routine

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4 months ago · 27 likes · 12 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← April 25th, 2026

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I drag myself down the stairs.

Making conversation with the sound of my own desperate yawns.

Morning’s great pleasure is waiting for me.

For some it’s the bitter taste of the coffee bean.

Perhaps a hot cup of tea.

Monster Energy has always been the one for me.

No matter the flavour,

sharpness kicks into gear

like no other.

White on silver,

It freezes my fingers.

The room stays still for a second.

I take my next sip,

Do all of my thoughts become artificial?

I don’t care what the answer is.

I am lost in the bliss of routine.

StillSymbols

My Fingertips betrayed me

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5 months ago · 18 likes · 7 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← April 18th, 2026

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I wake up already losing.

My fingertips betrayed me in the dark of the night.

Blood-red skin, pulled tight.

Pain like the itch I tried to soothe.

Steroid cream fills the cracks like guided plaster.

But it doesn’t reach the rawness beneath.

For everything I do,
it stays with me.

In the desperate awareness
I can’t fully step out of.

It slips into the small decisions
I don’t think twice.

StillSymbols

No Surprises

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5 months ago · 24 likes · 8 comments · Drew Benjamin Wall

← April 11th, 2026

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