A thing within me broke

A thing within me broke,

a fragile thing, weighed down

by expectations—the way you

wanted me to be

A thing within me tore,

the mask I hid behind, the only face

I wore a smile, a laugh

to hide the pain

A thing within me crumbled,

a wall that I built up, once solid

now eroded by the waves

of the emotions,

held back for far too long

A thing within me shattered,

the false reflection looking

back at me, now shards

of broken glass

A thing within me rose,

a starved and silent thing,

the part of me I always had to hide,

not good enough to show the world

A thing within me spoke

the truth. Enough. It’s time

I leave that other person in the past

for she was never me

A thing within me broke,

and in the brokenness

I see fragments

of who I’m meant to be