You Stole My Honor

Flat, an endless steppe; a wasteland. Nothing but white powder piled on every side. Siberia; a prison. No bars; still trapped. Open air; still suffocating. Cold, bitter, piercing. My breath; my life bleeding out, solidifying around me in puffs of steam. 10 years wasted; my identity stolen. Beaten, coerced, animalized. Condemned for Polish blood; my nationality. I used to be beautiful. I used to sing. I used to hold my head high. Now my eyes endlessly look at the ground. Defeated. My neck is tied by an invisible rope. My back is bent by a lie. My hands have condemned me. A forced ink signature. My name admitting to things I never did. I've become who you said I was, a criminal. Not in action but in spirit. Guilt consumes me for nothing. Remorse barks in my ear. You've won. You took my home, my family, my friends. I thought there was nothing else. But you knew and now you have my honor.