Love shouldn’t be something that is bought

Love shouldn’t care about not being fully related

A child’s love for their parents should never be forgot

And a parent should never make that child’s love feel degraded

Instead of feeling loved, I felt like a burden,

Like a stepchild whose parents only make their feelings worsen.

I longed for the feeling of being cared for

Yet all I ever got was a face full of teary eyes and a throat that was sore.

I’m thankful to have a mother who was always my support,

Who was there for me even when my own words fell short.

I’m blessed to have a bonus father,

Who always stepped in when my own dad couldn’t do the honor.

I thank them both for comforting me in the times I needed it most

Yet the pain still haunts me like a ghost.

Three days of dread I constantly have to endure

Three days that will always remind me for sure.

That I am a stepchild and will never be treated the same,

Not by my father or stepmother who will never accept the blame

I will never be treated the same,

Not like how my siblings are treated and it’s such a shame.

Instead, I am a pawn in everyone else's game.

I want to yell and scream,

And ask them both what is wrong with me.

Is it my hair? Is it my looks?

Is it the fact that the only people I like are written in books?

I didn’t know and 8-year-old me couldn’t cope.

All I ever wanted was a parent’s unconditional love for a child

Yet with my father, there was and still is no hope

From what I have learned, to him love is a financial game

A possessional trophy that needed to be earned in order to be claimed

Love never came free

I learned that the hard way personally

And it was not until I finally gave up 

That I finally decided that enough is enough

Now I am the villain in the story

Who is too stuck up and “Shouldn’t be allowed to have such opinions”

That I needed to just give in and let them have the glory 

But I don’t want to continue to sit down and stay their minion

I want the freedom that I have rightfully earned

For sixteen years my voice has been stolen from me and I want it returned

I have the right to speak and I want to be heard

I will be heard

2 more years and I’ll be free

Free from all of this insanity

I will have no more chains that bind me to my seat 

No orders that hold me back against my will

No one’s problems but my own

After that point, I will be alone

Alone, loved, and free

Free to finally be me

Free as in what love should be.