They did not know who I'd be,
I was a child back then, not yet set free.
Each wound they left became a door
Through which my naked pain would pour.

The child they knew has long since fled,
And as time passed my tears were shed.
They have my photograph old and worn,
While I became a woman scorned.

How great it is to know that they cannot see
The strength that has grown wild inside of me.
Their story is over, that page has turned,
Their privilege was lost and lessons were learned.

Let them keep their faded view
Of someone they once long ago knew,
As they hold firmly onto the past
While I am free to fly at last.

©️Lizzie Bevis

From the harshness of Everest,
To savage war trenches,
There's the will to survive,
While keeping your senses.

And once you do,
Life has a way,
Of taking it all,
anyway.

Storm clouds gather fast,
Winds howl, bending ancient trees,
Strength in nature's grasp.

Internally, she crumbles.

She doesn't know where she's
been the past few months.
Living in a bad nightmare.

Depersonalization.
Derealization.

As the robot mask of herself
pulls her along.
Drags her through it.

As her personality fades,
Sense of self depletes.

Others question why,
or why she couldn't have prevented this.

"You should have known better" -
A phrase that feels like a dagger
piercing her heart.

Blame
Shame
Fault.

She's a bird with a broken wing.

Mere months ago, this wasn't the case.
She was a bird soaring high.
Felt helpful, useful, proud.
Ecstatic to be using her knowledge
for good and supporting and
advocating for those she cared about most.
Using her intelligence and learning.

How dare you shame her
blame her.
She has more guts and strength
than you'll ever know.
She conquered darkness,
a feat few can say.

She built a life worth living,
and now that's slipping away.

So call her flakey
Call her stupid

Judge her all you want.

But she knows she is powerful
courageous
brave
insightful
reflective

A force to be reckoned with
A phoenix rising from the ashes.

She'll shut other voices out
Listen to herself
Come to terms with her self doubt
and forge forward reclaiming her Self

Under skies where umbrage is stitched with thoughts, I ponder, on the days, like copper, reticence is bent when voices, hushed, rise and take their place,
with colors sharp as blades, of stories then that crashed against the wall of silence.

Muted. Muted. Muted for so long.
This voice, a titan, bones crumpled in fetal position and slid into a box has been gagged for so long. The body now unfurls, a sapling having been denied of its spring for too long.

And I’m waiting for the day when I can keep my head up, when I can speak up and say my peace, say my piece.

And I’m waiting for the day, no longer I, a sunflower with shoulders hunched, head bowed, lips crimped, wilting under the star I’ve always loved, basking in the warmth and letting the shadow fall behind me, am afraid of parading the reflection the mirror holds for me. When rights are not hoisted as hopeful words scrawled on cardboard for no eyes to see.

No longer hidden, walk with neither shackles or shame, unapologetic without otherness and doubt, to stand tall, shedding the cloak of unseen, burst into darkness like new born light for everyone to see.

Under the crushing weight of novelty, head stuffed inside a crown for the surd, Humanity watered down until it turns into a pulp of flesh, no more. No more, I say.

Pay me no nods, nor embrace, nor tokens, but vows that we would dine at a table and see the beauty of existence in your eyes, take comfort in your smile, and speak my mind as you freely could, when you get out of line. If you don’t know, feel free to unbuckle my shoes, fill them, take root in them, walk miles in them, get spat in them, get persecuted without a reason in them, take a number, stand in line, keep your mouth shut in them, go home in them, if there are holes, feel the burn of friction, weep, weep, weep and be laughed at, be told what you feel is not real in them. Maybe yearn for a word or two and let somebody, anybody know you are crumbling into them, like a cinderblock too weak to cradle fire any further in them?

Maybe only then, that in them, you’ll take my callused hand to sand yours, and we'll find the stars that guide us home to peace, and in that space, our voices intertwine, the beating of hearts are in synch, with heads held high.

Let me, in confidence, be worthy of the space I claim and of equal measure know what it’s like to live free and not keep waiting for the day.

I was once the calm before the storm,
Soft-spoken, eager to please.
I bent and bowed to every demand,
Hoping for some small reprieve.

I was the sun behind the clouds,
A gentle light to guide.
But you saw me as weak, as nothing at all—
Just someone you could bide.

You shaped me with your empty words,
Your lies, your games, your hate.
You laughed as I stumbled and fell,
Thinking I’d accept my fate.

I silenced my voice to soothe your pride,
I smiled through all your games.
I stitched my wounds with fragile hope,
Yet you fed them with your flames.

But storms don’t stay quiet forever,
And wounds don’t heal by chance.
I picked myself up from the wreck you made,
And now I rise, not dance.




I did not create the storm—
I simply became it.
I did not leave it all to chance,
Though that's what you named it.

You called me fragile, weak, a pawn,
A shadow beneath your rule.
But every whisper, every slight—
You fed the fire of a fool.

And now the fool stands cloaked in rage,
Her fury sharp and wild.
You played your games, you stacked your cards,
But you forgot—storms have a child.




You’ll taste the ruin you left behind,
Feel the wreckage you thought was mine.
Each word you spoke to tear me down
Will now burn through your spine.

I am the echo of all you’ve done,
The screams you tried to drown.
The wrecking wind, the searing rain—
I’ll bring it all crashing down.

You’ll hear my name in the howling winds,
Feel my wrath in the quake.
You stole my peace, you shattered my soul
Now the storm is wide awake.


No mercy will I leave in my path,
No corner safe to hide.
Each piece of your fragile world will fall—
I’ll rip it from inside.


Your lies will hang like broken glass,
Cutting through your pride.
And every tear you tried to deny,
Will flood you like the tide.

A reckoning is coming, dear,
You’ll beg for the pain to end.
But this isn’t justice—it’s destruction’s kiss,
A storm you cannot mend.

You’ll know the torment you inflicted,
Feel the cold blade of regret.
For every wound you carved in me,
I’ll leave your soul in debt.


Let your castles crumble, your masks dissolve,
Let chaos reign supreme.
I’ll unravel your world brick by brick
Your life will be my dream.

And when the storm has taken all,
When nothing of you remains,
You’ll finally see the power you gave
To the storm born of your games.

I broke the leash—
felt it snap between my teeth,
the metal biting deep into my skin,
but its absence leaves a weight
heavy on my heart,
as though I’ve lost a limb.
Still, I carry it.
Every step feels like I’m betraying
the creature I was meant to be,
but I move anyway.

Your collar is gone,
but its echo tightens my chest,
a phantom pressure,
reminding me that I was born
to seek your approval,
to obey your every call.
I run,
but every breath tastes of you,
your presence clinging to me
like smoke I can’t escape.

Your voice gnaws at my spine,
low and sharp,
its growl imprinted in my bones.
I feel you in every shadow,
in every gust of wind,
like a leash invisible but real.
I push forward,
but the past scratches at my heels,
its claws deep in my skin.

Still, I run—
not without cost,
but I claw forward,
defying every instinct bred into me.
Your shadow pulls at my heart,
but I do not stop.
The path is not easy,
but every step is a battle
I am learning to win.

And though you haunt me—
your name, your scent,
the chains of my past—
I know this:
I have broken free.
No collar, no leash,
no chains will hold me again.
I am no longer your dog.

Leaves like strings it sounds
Alone wolf all we hounds,
when earth shakes and trembles
strong wind nimbles and wistles.

On day like Feast we mourn
Our hearts are scourge and torn,
Its hard to find a way
When the tears rain and stay.

today we dig a hole and burry
forever in our hearts we carry,
a loving hand of yours are rare
all memories shared are bare.

Help us stand again,
From this weary and broken pain,
With your hand to guide us through,
We'll rise again, strong and anew.

A thick thread
of never-ending
cruelness,
its toxicity running
so deep
it contaminates
anyone
it can wrap itself
around
until I discovered
how to cut
myself
loose.






Copyright © 2025 Alyssa Rondeau
All Rights Reserved