Unchained.

Nobody owns me anymore.
I took back the key they held
like a lifeline,
tight in their fists,
like they owned something
they had no business claiming.

I changed the lock,
sealed the door,
made sure there were no spare keys
tucked away in their pockets,
no skeletons to slip in
when the moon’s high.

I am my own keeper now,
not a piece on their board,
not a prize to be won,
but a wild thing,
unshackled and strange,
running free under a sky
that belongs to no one.

I’ve stitched my heart back together
with the threads of solitude,
patched the holes
with quiet defiance,
and learned to love the echo
of my own voice
bouncing off the walls
of this newfound sanctuary.

Nobody owns me.
And in this chaos,
I find my peace,
my broken pieces,
mended with the resolve
of a thousand storms survived,
and the silent promise
to never hand over the key
again.

-G