Lessons taught.
Learning right from wrong
to walk a straight narrow path.
Never to divert…
Never to look at the other side
or else I will fall,
God forbid,
in their eyes.

Yet,
my soul craved to see,
to feel,
what was there.
The possibilities…

I started to look…
They beat me
They scared me
They tried to
shut
my voice…

For years I lived
below the surface
buried under layers.
Thinking I am living
Believing I am living
Living the way
they
wanted me to live…

One day
I started cracking…
I began to peel…
I asked “Who am I”
I had no answer
and I shook…
I wanted answers…

Now I am finding
answers
and I am still peeling
away…
I am finding out who
I am
not who THEY
wanted ME to be…

For I love as I KNOW how to love
and be who I WANT to be.

Copyright Catherine Anne Hayes © 2008