Take your deprecating hands
off from around my neck.
Allow me to gasp
in breathes of sweet freedom.

You
No longer cause rivers to fall from my eyes.
You
No longer yank the strings of my heart.
You
No longer have your wicked grasp upon me.

Your words
which have carved scars on my heart and mind
ceased to taint my thoughts at night.
Those same scars
are reminders to myself.

Reminders
of the woman who stands tall today.
Reminders
of the battles she once had to withstand.
Reminders
that she has and will always overcome.

False truths and Prejudice utterances.
You adorned me with them all.
Worn like this season’s latest fashion.
But the strike of a match
sets ablaze each restraining fabrication.

I
am not what you label me to be.
I
know who I am and who I am meant to be.
I
am free

I’m truthfully just so in awe
that after all these years...
All the things that I’ve heard...
All the things that I know...

Despite everything,
Thinking about the memories we’ve shared still bring me warmth.
I still sense itty bitty flutters from the butterflies in my stomach.

I pray to God that one day
someone will make me fall in love,
and feel so deeply again,
the way that you did...

Once upon a time.