Unchained Melody.

She hums under her breath—soft, barely there,

a whisper of a song that never found its wings or air.

A voice caged before it could soar or take flight,

folded small beneath the weight of watching eyes

that told her, You?—No, not you.

*

So, she swallowed her voice

like a bitter pill, letting silence settle in her chest

like dust in an empty room—

the room with unfriendly faces and expectations she never met.

*

But oh, didn’t she always feel it?

In the laughter she never fully joined,

in the words she longed to say but never did,

a melody curled tight inside her ribs,

waiting, pressing, pleading.

And perhaps if someone had told her,

if someone had said, “Sing, love. Let it out”,

maybe she would have dared.

*

But no, the world doesn’t grant such kindness.

Instead, it handed her mirrors cracked with doubt,

painted her reflection in hesitation,

Slithering whispers into the corners of her mind.

*

Perhaps that’s why she stays behind the line,

in hiding, always—

*

But no more!

*

She learned to choke it back,

to make herself an audience

to the songs others sang so freely.

But a melody caged too long grows restless.

It scratches at the throat, rattles the ribs,

demands release—

until one day, without thinking, without fear,

*

she sings.

*

Soft at first, fragile as a flickering flame,

but then stronger, steadier, burning brighter again.

She tastes the air shaped by her own voice,

realizes it was never theirs to break,

never theirs to claim.

*

And suddenly, she isn’t just humming.

She isn’t just wishing or hoping.

*

She is singing!

*

She is actually singing…..

Mouth wide open,

unfazed by the steady eyes that trace her face,

or the melody that falters now and then.

She regains her rhythm, brushes herself off,

and keeps going, undeterred.

*

And the weight they placed upon her?

melts like fog at sunrise—

because the melody was always hers.

It had only been waiting

for her to listen,

to hear herself with love,

and not with doubts.