Prisoner

I’m suffocating

In plain sight

Yet no one seems to see;

How I twist

And gasp and beg for help

Praying to be set free.

The brambles

Of your lies

Grow in vines across my skin;

Taking me over

And crawling inside

Drowning me in shame from within.

Your words tighten

Around my lungs

Until all I hear is you;

Opium, dripping

From your lips

Forcing me to believe untruths.

Everything inside

Me hurts

Darkness snuffing out my light;

And as I bleed

And scream

I consider giving up the fight.

My fingertips

Have gone numb

From clinging onto hope;

What sweet

Relief would

Flood me if I finally let go.

That’s when

It hit me

And my sorrow turned to rage;

Turning into

A fire that

Would burn down this cage.

I will not

Go softly

I heard my soul scream inside my weary mind;

For this life

This soul

This destiny is not yours—it’s mine.

And so I used

The last of my light

To burn down the prison you made;

Slaying all

The demons

With the truth as my blade.

And as I walk

Toward the light

That was always mine to own;

I turned back

For a moment

To see you lying broken and alone.

For when you

Steal the lives of others

Their tormented cries staining the wind;

You curse yourself

Ending your wealth

Living the consequences of your sin.