I write this poem as an ode:

To the weights on my ankles

Keeping me down

To the whispers in my head

Clouding my thoughts

To the tape over my mouth

Concealing my voice

To the chains on my hands

Keeping them lowered

To the tears in my eyes

Blurring my vision

To the pain in my legs

Assisting my fall

To the blisters on my feet

Making me limp

To all that you've done,

I forgive you.

I’d like to think there are two sides to situations, so once more I declare as an ode:

To the weights on my ankles

Keeping me steady

To the whispers in my head

Strengthening my integrity

To the tape over my mouth

Allowing me to listen

To the chains on my hands

Keeping me calm

To the tears in my eyes

Letting me feel

To the pain in my legs

Building my muscle

To the blisters on my feet

Roughening me up

To the all the scars on my body

For accepting life's hardships

To all the love around me

For giving my life meaning

To all that you've done,

I thank you.

I write this poem as an ode:

To the weights on my ankles

Keeping me down

To the whispers in my head

Clouding my thoughts

To the tape over my mouth

Concealing my voice

To the chains on my hands

Keeping them lowered

To the tears in my eyes

Blurring my vision

To the pain in my legs

Assisting my fall

To the blisters on my feet

Making me limp

To all that you've done,

I forgive you.

I’d like to think there are two sides to situations, so once more I declare as an ode:

To the weights on my ankles

Keeping me steady

To the whispers in my head

Strengthening my integrity

To the tape over my mouth

Allowing me to listen

To the chains on my hands

Keeping me calm

To the tears in my eyes

Letting me feel

To the pain in my legs

Building my muscle

To the blisters on my feet

Roughening me up

To the all the scars on my body

For accepting life's hardships

To all the love around me

For giving my life meaning

To all that you've done,

I thank you.

It’s usually not thought about, or agonized

But when it’s on your mind, it's everywhere

My heart pushes my chest away, as if it wishes to be left alone

In and out, deep and slow

Like when you’ve cried so many tears

You’ve been hurt, and you’re scared

You inhale and exhale hesitantly, as if your breath is stumbling upon itself

You feel this way, because you are listening to the pain in your heart

The pain flows out your eyes, and that is that

Maybe I am troubled, and my heart is the only one that realizes

Maybe I have been too distant to listen to it

Maybe it’s longing for attention

I feel it now

Every whisper of oxygen that escapes, takes my peace with it

I am empty and in pain

Nothing to live for but the hope that it will return

And it does

It fills you up

But then it’s too much

Let go

Forget as fast as you can

It’s empty again

How can something so full of nothing, be so heavy?

You can’t move when you are anchored to the ground

You can’t think, if you have to willingly stay alive

Try not to notice it

The next thing you know, you’ve been running on empty for miles

You start to feel it when the magnitude of pain in your chest reaches your brain

Your train of thought gets shaken off its tracks

All you can do now is try to fix the mess

The more you think, the more you feel

The more you feel, the more you think

Pain is of the mind and heart

The heart is a heavy boulder

The mind is a light balloon

That’s not the way it should be

The mind should be anchored down and in control

The heart should be the feather free to feel anything

In and out, deep and slow

I cannot be, when I cannot breathe