| inner thoughts and feelings |

xiv. poetry

i carry my baggage on my shoulders
feeling the weight crush my bones and bruise my skin

i carry your pain along with me
feeling the weight make my knees buckle
weighing me down closer to the earth

i carry their worries too
feeling the weight bring me to my hands and knees
yet i still carry on

i carry their doubts and insecurities
feeling the weight break my spine
leaving me immobile

i carry his problems
her secrets
their fears

i carry it all
all of it
on my own

they watch
every bit
from a distance

i carry it all
on my broken body
for them

they watch
with happy hearts
far away

i carry it all
for them not to feel how i feel
so that they can never suffer
like how i've suffered
i do this all for them
always for them
always
i carry their troubles
as well as my own
and feel my body collapse and cry and scream out in pain
in protest
"LET IT GO!"
yet i can't
i carry it
i carry it
i carry it
i carry all the problems with open arms
and allow myself to break
under the weight

the weight of others
and myself