The Breaking

A voice.

From nowhere.

From everywhere.

“Let it burn now.

The stage mask.

The spiritual costume.

The healer’s robes.

The part you play in public

while withholding truth in private.”

He screams.

Finally,

he screams.

Not at the gods.

At himself.

He screams

for the boy inside who never felt seen.

He screams

for the man he became to survive.

He screams

because he’s never once told the truth out loud

and now it’s tearing through his body

like a divine song.

And when it’s over—

when the screams

become sobs,

become breaths…

He collapses.

Not peaceful.

Not healed.

Just… empty.

For once,

empty in the right places.

And then,

a whisper:

“Now. Begin.”

-Shannon Mack