Unmasked

As my parents separated themselves from each other,

I separated myself from the world.

Caught in the cracks of my dissolving family

What could I do as a nine year old girl?

Pulled in tug-a-war between my dad and mother

My voice shrunk to an inaudible utter

“What do I say?” “Why can’t they agree?”

I was helpless, until I found poetry.

My words were quicksand, weighing down pages

Soggy emotions drowned me in unforeseen cages

No longer hiding pain behind deceptive faces

My masks melted, this is really what my face is?

I saw a girl who crawled her way to happiness

Words empowered her. Her future? Boundless.

She molded 26 letters, into 1 identity

That girl changed history, into herstory.

In an unlimited society, my wings are limited

In a bounded world, I am bounded by chains

Yet one power humanity can’t contain,

Is my freedom, through the words on this page.