From Shadows to Strength

   It began in silence, 

   the world holding its breath, 

   as the air grew thick with dread.

   I was caught, a deer in the snare, 

   stripped of voice, of choice,

   of everything I thought was mine to give.

   Your shadow stretched long, 

   a darkness I couldn't escape.

   I learned to melt into the feeling 

   of your grip around my neck,

   free falling into what you convinced me was love.

   But fear crept in, cold and suffocating.

   Love shouldn't make my chest tighten, 

   it shouldn't make my heart race 

   for all the wrong reasons.

   The room became a prison,

   walls closing in as my breaths grew shallow.

   Time splintered that night,

   fractured into shards that cut me still.

   Each moment was a phantom, 

   haunting me in the quiet hours, 

   my pulse quickening at every shadow.

   For years, I carried the weight of terror, 

   the memory of your hands 

   etched deep into my skin, 

   a constant echo of control.

   I blamed myself for the fear, 

   believing I had invited the storm.

   But cracks began to form-

   in the silence, in the shame, in the fear.

   The voice you tried to silence, 

   a quiet ember buried within,

   began to rise like smoke from the ashes.

   I spoke the unspeakable,

   and though it felt like tearing myself open, 

   it was also the start of healing.

   Through trembling lips, I told my story,

   and with each word, I reclaimed myself.

   The fear didn't vanish, 

   but it loosened its grip,

   its power waning as I found my own strength.

   I learned to forgive myself

   for something that was never my sin, 

   to shed the guilt and fear 

   that were never mine to carry.

   The scars remain,

   but they are no longer chains - 

   they are proof that l endured.

   Today, I stand not as a victim, 

   but as a warrior,

   a survivor who fought her way back to the light.

   The shadows still linger, 

   but they no longer define me.

   I am whole, even in my brokenness.

   I am free, even in my scars.