I am Still Here

There were years I disappeared in plain sight. Smiled when I was supposed to, laughed on cue. Let people love the version of me that rarely talked back. But inside, I was pacing. Clawing at the walls of a life that looked fine from the outside. People don't ask questions when your mask fits well. I build myself from what was left. Not from joy- from scraps. From reading and writing and hoping. From don't cry now and just get through today. There is no miracle here No perfect ending. Just this: I woke up. I kept going when it would have been easier to vanish. Do you know what kind of power that takes? To stay when leaving everything would feel like relief. I am not healed, but I am healing. And when they ask what saved me, I wont say love, or God, or even hope. I'll say: I did And it was enough- for I am still here.