Once.

I thought it would change  

If I became different.  

I thought it would fade  

If I just stayed distant.  

I imagined growing older  

Than the shadows of my fears.  

I was fragile when I started—  

But I made it here.  

So why doesn’t it feel right?  

Why do I keep shattering?  

I keep pushing forward,  

But I’m stuck with it.  

With my thoughts, I still hear  

The things I hate,  

The things I fear.  

I thought it would change—  

Maybe I was just strange.  

But now I doubt  

It will ever be  

The way I once  

Envisioned to see.