200-Year Legacy

As the darkness covers me, I lie distraction-free

Alone with my swirling thoughts, slipping from serenity

Confronted with feelings, those I struggle to embrace

The reasons that I fill my idle time, so we could never be face-to-face

Feelings that were gifts from my parents, I’ve learned to love their traumas

Living in their self-limiting beliefs, taking ownership of their dramas

Feelings that have formed memories, vividly though they aren’t even mine

Pain, struggle, and torture, tormenting my feeble mind

Lying alone in the darkness, I see swirls of vivid lights

Laughs of ancestors watching over me, as I battle the generational plights

I hear whispers of self-doubt, voices I don’t recognize

Screaming ceilings to my visions, building walls I’ll have to climb

I have bruises left from injuries, that I’ve never felt or earned

Residual scars from their words, and their lessons never learned

I see chains and I see shackles, wrapped upon my arms and feet

Greeted with their expectations, those they’ve always failed to meet

As I lay inside the darkness, forming new dreams with each shout

Shining my own guiding light, determined to one day break out