Afraid to Be Alone

I should have learned when to walk away.

To understand when things got too bad,

When things got unsafe.

When I saw myself differently,

Because of someone else’s mistreatment.

But I was frozen.

Stuck in a place that hid me from my worst fear,

Being alone.

I prayed I knew how to walk away,

Screamed and wished that for once,

I could free myself from all of the anguish.

Now I am no longer cowering in a corner,

I have broken through the barriers

That you had put up around me.

I am no longer afraid to be alone,

no longer terrified of the unexpected and the what ifs.

I am free of the chains that were wrapped around my brain,

Whispering to me sweet lies and self doubt.

Because of your mistreatment I am stronger,

And I am braver.

I have found myself, which was once lost within you.

An empty body that has now homed a beautiful soul.