Trauma

I carry the weight of a childhood lost,
A past that lingers, a heavy cost.
Shadows whisper, they call my name,
Reminding me things are never the same.

I learned to flinch before I could speak,
To stay unseen, to be small, to be weak.
Love was a weapon, sharp and cold,
A story of pain too heavy to hold.

I laugh in rooms where I don’t belong,
Sing to the world a borrowed song.
Smiles stitched where the scars still ache,
Pretending I’m whole when I still break.

The past is a ghost that lives in my skin,
Scratching, screaming, clawing within.
I reach for hands but they slip through,
How do you heal what no one knew?

I tell myself, "You're strong, you'll heal,"
But strength gets heavy when pain is real.
Some nights I sink, some nights I fight,
Some days the dark steals all the light.

Yet here I stand, though torn, not gone,
Still searching for a brighter dawn.
Trying to be okay each day,
Even when the past won’t fade away.