by The Cowl Editor on September 16, 2021
Poetry
by Grace O’Connor ’22
She slowly heals as time pulls her forward.
She holds tight onto the past like an old stuffed animal,
As she is afraid of what the future will hold.
The future is a sky stuffed with millions of stars.
She is mesmerized by the stars that look down at her.
She tries to connect how her past got her here,
As she connects the stars in her mind making shapes,
She tries to make sense of her life, her purpose.
Little does she know she’s a minuscule part of something much bigger.
Her voice is silenced in a large sea,
She can decide if she wants to make her voice count or be held back,
By her thoughts that glue her in place.
She lets the glue tear her skin as she pulls away,
It is painful and she is vulnerable,
But she needs to breathe.
She escapes from the glue’s tight hug, naked.
She’s been trapped in a glass box,
Put hate marks on her skin,
Been pinned down,
Blinded with rose-colored glasses,
Refused to swallow solid food for months,
A bubble stuck in time,
Unable to breathe,
Only comforted by string lights swimming through the air.
She always had the power to pull herself away,
From her own abusive thoughts which held her back
From true bliss her entire life.
She learns to love herself slowly, but hesitantly.
Her mind craves the comfort of the glue.
She craves infinite possibilities like the stars that glimmer in the sky.
She made her decision and it is to live every day to her its fullest,
Even when times get hard and unbearable.
She does this because she owes it to herself,
No one can replace her in this world,
Because she is not replaceable.
Once she finds her internal confidence she will be unstoppable.
She is Grace, and she is no longer ashamed.