No More

Your grip grew

Tighter, tighter, tighter

Until I couldn’t breathe.

I cried out for air,

For a glimpse of life.

I thought I’d never get away.

You seized my life

Like you did my heart

While you found enjoyment,

I wanted to die.

You ripped me into pieces

Every last bit of me

Shredded into fine fragments

Of who I used to be.

I am dust.

A puppet on a string,

Bound to you with every move you made.

I did what you demanded,

Forgetting who I was.

I am no longer me.

You watched me stumble and fall,

With one tug on my strings,

I was forced to stand.

The weight of our world on my shoulders.

I listened, I obeyed.

My life, falling apart at the seams.

Enough was enough.

I needed to escape the shackles

You called love.

Love is free

Being with you wasn’t.

So, this wasn’t love.

I was trapped in a cage,

A bird without wings

Trying to break free.

Piece by piece, I am whole again.

I remember who I was before,

Before you stripped me of my character

And made me wear something so unfamiliar.

Something to please you.

You didn’t fall in love with me.

It was the me you created

And destroyed --

The me I long to forget,

To get out, out, out of my mind.

No more, no more.

You can no longer hurt me

Your shackles lie on the floor

Along with the pieces of me you destroyed

And I can breathe again.