Chains

It’s exhausting
Trying to break the chains
I didn’t ask for them
I sometimes wish I was blind to them

Would life be easier if I had ignored them?
If instead of breaking free of them, I accepted them?
They are strangely embarrassing

I’m moving on with my life, but the questions always come.
I’m tired of answering them
I’m tired of the curious eyes that watch me as I answer
Searching for what’s wrong with me.

I don’t want your judgement.
I don’t want your pity.
I don’t need your sympathy.

I’m becoming me
Slowly, and sometimes; painfully.

I’m burying my past
Not because I’m trying to hide from it
But because it’s dead to me.

I’ve found my first sliver of peace
And it took me far longer than most to find
It’s been a bizarre experience

Had I not broken from the chains of my existence
I would have never known
That this type of life could have existed.

-K.M.
2024