No, Listen.

No, listen.

Heavy hands press down my shoulders

Study harder, swim faster.

My feet shuffle forward obediently

No fight, no flight.

Are you happy?

No one asks but the mirror

Hands squeeze my shoulders

Yes, I tell myself.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

The clock ticks

Hands squeeze tighter

My footsteps slow.

No. No. No.

My mind is roped in, held down

My feet yearn to sprint offroad.

Suffocating, drowning

I pick life

Now.

Flailing,

Fighting.

With a gasp, the hands lose grip

It feels strange to run

To run, to trip, to fall, to stand back up again.

Legs wobble like a child

I’m not a child

I’m learning to run

Finally.

My feet no longer shuffle halfheartedly

They run free

At my command

and only mine.

I chase the horizon, boundless and beautiful.

Yes. Yes. Yes.