The classroom became our living room.
We learned together—alphabet to perseverance.
Public schools taught rules;
I taught love that bends to fit a child.

In a town that whispers secrets,
shadows paint the walls,  
I walk these empty streets alone,
where silence softly calls.  
With my head held high,
but my heart tucked away,  
The echoes of yesterday
keep haunting me today.  
I wear independence like a threadbare coat,  
Each stitch tells a story,
each tear feels like a boat,  
The sun sets low, behind the trees I've known,  
Casting haunting memories in hues of amber and stone.  
I count the stars as they flicker to the beat,  
Each one a whisper of love, now just bittersweet.  
I learn to dance with shadows, let them pull me close,  
In the quiet solitude, I find what matters most,  
But the weight of my decisions hangs heavy in the night,  
A ghost of who I could’ve been, just out of reach, out of sight.  
So I chase the dawn with my fragile, open heart,  
Yet the more I seek the sun, the more I drift apart.  
In the echo of my laughter, there's a tremble, there's a sigh,  
For the freedom that I long for also makes me want to cry.  
I'll raise a glass to freedom, to the choices that I've made,  
But behind this brave facade, a part of me will fade.  
In every step I take alone, there's a wish for company,  
For in this independence, I'm still longing to be free.