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.