i felt different
Sophia Mickelson
Artwork by:
​Lily Hartley​

There's a weight on my chest, a burden untold,
Eating away at my soul, out of control.
They glance my way, with stares that sting,
Each one is a cut, like pulling a string.
​
Their looks are sharp, charming yet cruel,
A pain that digs, a silent duel.
It hollows me out, leaves me raw,
Like tender skin against a barbed wire's maw.
​
I wonder, do others feel this too?
Building up walls, yet letting them through.
If they only knew, the battles I fight,
Demons born of their piercing sight.
​
But then he came, with warmth in his eyes,
A gentle voice that silenced my cries.
He saw me, not the shadows of fear,
But the strength within that I held dear.
With each word, he mended my heart,
Slowly, steadily, he took me apart.
Piece by piece, he built me anew,
Gave me the strength to see things through.
​
No longer haunted by those stares of death,
He taught me to breathe, to take each breath.
With him by my side, I stand tall,
His love the armor that shields it all.
​
Now the weight lifts, the burden fades,
In his embrace, my confidence invades.
They may still look, but it matters no more,
For I’ve found my strength, my inner core.