What’s Holding Me Back

Photo by Ryan McGuire from “Gratisography.com”

If I show weakness

Any at all

The ones outside blame my real face

The face choked in dried tears

Seen by no one.

I put up a masked mold

So my face cannot be at fault

For revealing my distress…

Set on high alert on everyone’s actions

The inner critic has a guise too

An observing guardian, the one who overlooks

Their purpose is to hold me back

They refuse to go

Distance is a friend; it protects me from sorrow’s choking.

And so I walk this lonely path of careful guard

It is the only way I can get away from the damage.