I was stuck in an island called Oahu.
What some consider a paradise,
I refer to as my prison.
The vast ocean reflects my desperation,
For my future is in the other side.
I know not where I’m going,
But I know what I want is not here.

I am drowning,
In guilt,
In responsibility.
I gasp for breath,
But my binds pull me back down.
My lungs are ablaze,
Begging for nourishment,
Like how my soul begs for freedom.

It’s getting harder to breath.
Claws dig into my skin,
Blood trickles out,
Staining the pristine blue of the Pacific.
I look down to see my parent’s desperate faces,
Begging me to stop resisting.
I was losing the will to fight.
My eyes flutter to a close,
But flashes of what could be,
What should be,
What will be,
Erupts in my mind.

I will not be that girl that held herself back,
The girl that gave up her dream to pursue the dream of others.
The meek girl that did what she was told,
Even though deep inside she is screaming “No.”
I refuse to be a mere puppet.

I take another breath,
And with a swift kick I detach myself from them.
I swim as far as I could,
Not knowing where to go but loving every second.
I refuse to be chained down,
Even by my roots.