They run across the water,
Each ripple making a rhythmic impact.
I’ve watched it endless times,
Memorizing each splash and pattern.
Yet fail to catch them in my hands.
Always slipping out of grasp,
Just to sink under beneath the surface.

Back when I was a little girl,
If you complimented me,
I would smile and say "thank you.'
I would feel like a princess,
beautiful and bright.
Now,
When you compliment me,
I just look at you,
Brows furrowed in confusion.
My whole world would stop,
suspended in time.
I would feel like you must be lying.

I am a fish on foreign land,
flopping desperately,
gasping for air in a world that wasn't made for me.
I don't know how to get back into the water.
I long to swim freely,
to explore the endless sea.

You not only gave me purpose,
You silenced the cries from my bleeding lips,
made my eyes glisten with joy, not tears.
grew flowers from the burnt ashes in my skin.
You encased hope in my unraveled brain.

You float in a vast, unending space.
An astronaut who's lost their way home.
The numbing cold, the silent space,
Pushes you toward the nearest warm star,
Where you savor the smallest flicker of comfort.
But time slips through the seams,
Stealing memories, stealing you.
A slow clock, ticking away what's left.
You watch distant galaxies bloom,
A tear freezing in place,
A reflection of you.

The reflection in the mirror is not me.
Trapped in a cage Imprinted with my fingerprints, My mind torn between false feelings that don't belong.
Days slip between pockets of times I cannot reach.
No control over the words I choose to speak,
A fading memory of whoever I used to be.
A different mask for every person I meet,
worn like outfits tailored to survive.
I cut every string that was tied to my soul,
Leaving me wondering what I once called mine.

Like a jellyfish,
I float through the endless ocean.
I look forward to the day I wash up on the shore.
Maybe someone will find me then.

Like a jellyfish,
I sting those who dare to be near.
Impulsive, not a moment to decide.
I long for someone to be close.