Voice

Sometimes, it would feel as though

My heart were thrashing against my ribs

Begging to come back out of my throat

And fling itself off a nearby cliff

It fluttered, it flew, a mind of its own

My heart had a heart within itself

It felt feelings I myself would not come to know

And shared its contents with no one else

One day when I was 12, I’d come home from school

Bearing the mental scars of words too sharp

My heart throbbed and hurt; it wept a pool

I feared it would not ever stop

Until, that is, I found myself

Staring at my laptop screen

And at that moment, my heart felt compelled

To share what it couldn’t share with me

My mind was spilling thoughts untold

The feelings I could never name

The words came easy and seemed to flow

I let them flow, untamed

I felt the sweetest sense of relief

My heart heaved a heavy sigh

No longer did I have to keep

My thoughts buried inside