Surrounded and cornered
My eyes searching wildly
Sweat beads upon my lip
I am trapped.
With nowhere left to run,
I freeze.
Slowly,
a
Smile
Plays
Upon
My
Lips.
My captors are taken aback.
What have we missed?
They question.
Now is their turn to feel frantic.
I drop my shoulders.
I lean against the wall.
I draw myself up taller
Taller
And taller yet.
The grimace widens into a grin.
As I defiantly raise my chin.
They search my empty eyes,
Roving for some unknown punch-line.
Finding none, they tense.
Only I,
and I alone,
Can ever control myself.
Nothing they say
Nothing they do
Nothing they threaten
Can ever turn me
Away from myself.
I am my own person
And that,
That
Terrifies them.
Sensing the shift
They turn and flee.
They flee away from
Me.