You Did Not Break Me

You watched me

Like a predator watches its prey

And when you finally caught me,

Struggle was useless.

With one bite,

You crushed my innocence

With one touch,

Black marked precious white.

You poisoned me,

Leaving me to die.

You left me injured and bleeding,

And it didn’t look that way from the outside;

No, I wouldn’t let you see that

You made me a victim,

With no mercy and no remorse.

You tore my world apart even before I had a chance to live in it.

Before I had a chance to experience good, I already knew bad

You cut me open and left me exposed;

You left me vulnerable.

You took advantage of my goodness

You took everything and left me with nothing

You broke my trust, shattered it into a million pieces;

Pieces, which I used to put myself back together again

You broke me down again and again.

You broke me down and created a stranger;

Until all that was left was a shell of what used to be

You broke me.

But I’m taking myself back.

I am not yours anymore,

I am mine

I am not the victim you made of me,

And I never will be.

I will heal myself of the poison you put in me,

I will make myself white again

I am not broken and never have been;

I have always been whole

It will take time and patience but

I will find strength in myself and others,

Strength to fight back.

I will no longer be prey

You will no longer have power over me.

In me, I will find the predator that you tried to bury

I will find my fire, my steel and my roar

I will find my freedom,

I will find my innocence

I will find me.