THAT GIRL I AM

I am jovial. An introvert they said.

I smile but with no teeth

I laugh but with no sound

I ache but won’t bend.

I am that girl.

Like fast cars, I speed past you albeit with no sound.

I call you all, but I won’t come.

I watch you all run away.

I am that child that mothers fear to birth

I will wait for midnight time

To fall in between the sheets

No sleep. No rest. My mother would say.

I am that girl with no mark

Or so I thought.

Marked by them, I can’t break free.

For from them, I see myself.