Conditional

My body was trained into submission Shoulders curved inwards Spine folded small Voice clipped short I didn’t take up space between Because space was dangerous A presence was always An invitation to conflict Stillness became costume And silence camouflaged I could exist without existing And most days that was safer The house never let me forget myself The corners were a constant reminder That I was temporary Conditional I lived on probation My existence tolerated Only if it stayed quiet enough Compliant enough Unremarkable I wasn’t raised so much as contained Childhood was a sentence Served indoors

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Sorelle

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