yes. to escape the compression
of my identity, my voice, my freedom.
this compression is restricting
my breath. I'm at 1% now.
all I want is to breathe
without the trauma coursing
through my body -
to stay away from the
physical embodiment of my pain -
to confide in certain people
without being blamed, minimized,
invalidated, shut down, or told off.
I don't know if
the last dream will come true.
but i'm waiting for the day
when the other ones do.
that day will be
written in my history.
but for now,
the hope keeps me going.
living with people who limit me and don't understand how I feel is exhausting. they tell me to move on from the trauma, yet I see my assailant too often and they refuse to acknowledge that. none of this is easy, but I know there's hope.
