Let the Flags Fly

“Can you hear me?” I choke out through jagged breaths 

I watch the world I’d once known crumble into ashes as an odious ringing invades my ears

all around me is burning but I stood there frozen 

“Yes, we hear you” 

“Can you see me?” I say as I walk in my cellophane skin 

ostracized by my family and peers I feel the weight of the world on my invisible shoulders 

I breathe, eat, and sleep like a human, don’t I love the same as you?

“Yes, we see you” 

“Can you defend me?” I whisper in my cushioned, leather seat 

in a room built on the telling the truth, I hear nothing but lies 

while he is still intact I feel his touch shatter my body when he walks out, unshackled 

“Yes, we’ll defend you” 

“Can you stand by me?” I scream through the burning of my throat