Recovered Identity

Weeping on the front steps

I knew that she was gone.

My tears flowed freely

Shattering like glass

Fragments spewed across the lawn

*

I knew that I had loved her

Through the wisdom of my soul

She departed too suddenly

Her heart was still beating

But mine was no longer whole

*

I had so many chances

To share what I had felt

But I choked on my words

My lips buzzing and numb

Too late for her heart to melt

*

My voice had always been stifled

By my own internal dread

Quietly, I protected myself

From those monsters masked as friends

Truth resounded only in my head

*

Trials left their silent mark on me

I stayed quiet to please them all

My neglected needs, lost to decades

Exhausted by the effort

I listened, at last, to my inner call

*

I hammered against the bricks and stones

Long years, ‘til broken and battered

My inner light escaped the clouds

Broken free from shadows

I knew love was all that mattered