a PHOENIX RISING

I didn’t choose this path.
It chose me.
All I wanted was to be happy.
You were a challenge from the get-go.
A charismatic charm that seduced me.
Love bombed by your endless texts and calls.
Gifted with my favorite flowers and champagne.
Flattered by all we had in common.
Unknowingly falling for a mirror of myself.
Then your wildly outbursts repulsed me.
The ups and downs twisted me.
The isolation from my sisterhood smothered me.
But I smiled and carried on.
There were days it overwhelmed me.
Yet, I bore the weight of your blame.
I hid your outbursts to protect you.
Cried myself to sleep from exhaustion.
Then startled awake by your control.
My bright-eyed and innocent identity was dying.
I stood in the flames and watched it consume me.
Rejecting any ability to rise.
A warrior woman never evacuates.
That’s what the weak do.
We had dreams to chase and goals to obtain.
I refused failure and vowed to defeat division.
An extremely high price, I would pay later.
I screamed I was slipping.
Which you published to secure your position.
Still, I begged your forgiveness.
You claimed you’re the victim.
While you trapped me in a prison.
Silenced by those who should protect me.
And marginalized by a broken system.
No one there to support me.
While you’re courting your new target.
Broken, beaten, and bruised.
Left only to sit with my wounds.
They called me a survivor.
A word I’ll never use.
I’m simply not the darkness I endured.
My journey is heavy.
Challenging days and harder nights.
Wiping tears and pretending it’s ok.
Sacrificing, compromising, chasing freedom and joy.
Imperfect in my own beautiful way.
Strong, proud, and unstoppable.
A phoenix rising.