Everywhere I go I feel trapped.
I pace the house nervously
looking for an escape.
Everywhere I look I am cornered
by a new reminder,
a new responsibility,
a new person someone wants me to be.
I sigh in frustration,
choking back tears,
calling out for help.
No one hears me.
Please, I yell, I can’t do this anymore,
but all that answers is a mooching echo
then a still silence.
I am alone.

The weight of the world pushes down on my shoulders
and I fear dropping everything.
Fear the moment of helplessness when
I would watch my life shatter around me.

Desperate and frightened I began to run.
Out the door, into the street and away;
however, I cannot out run my life.
It follows me,
stalking me like some unseen predator.
I closed my eyes and ran.
I let the sadness seep from my hidden core,
fueling my legs, urging my body to move faster.
I cried away the strife of my old life
and with the tears slipped the memories,
the pain, the people,
and the voices chasing me.

I wasn’t sure how long I ran;
but, soon I no longer felt the need to run.
No longer did the voices of the past whisper in my mind.
No longer did the burden weigh me down.
No longer did I know the fear, the anger
or the pain that had once consumed me.



My eyes strained open.
I looked around.
I did not know where I was.
I was utterly and hopelessly lost.
With a long awaited sigh of relief,
I lay down in the sparse grass.
to the unfamiliar sky,
I closed my eyes again,
only this time they were not clenched in anguish
but relaxed in peace.
I was free from the burden of being known,
of having a self, dreams,
and expectations to live up to.
I was at peace.
I was free and now
I could rest.