Nobody knew me,
  and that was my choice

The distance I kept
  protecting my voice

Though others had promised,
  their words fell in vain

My spirit untarnished
   whose breath I lay claim

My heart often suffered
  the pain I’d been caused

But a force pulled me inward,
  all hurt left on pause

This pathway my own,
  its direction so clear

Where alone I must travel
  —new voices to hear

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2018)