My Shackles Poem by Maya Reid

I step forward
The sky doesn’t come crashing down
Around me
The world doesn’t fall apart
Amazingly
It’s okay
So I take another
And another
‘I can do this’
I think
‘I can really do this’
And I’m up so high
That I raise my foot
To take another step
I raise my foot
Now forward
Forward, I say
Why can’t I go forward?
Don’t look down
I tell myself
Don’t look down
They’re not there
Tell yourself they don’t exist
I’m not that strong
I can’t resist
My eyes
They flicker down
Not my whole head
I have
At least
That much control
My eyes
They betray me
They look down
They see them
Twisted iron
Cold metal
Damn these chains
My shackles
Why can’t you see them?
My restricted wrists
My bound ankles
Sometimes I feel so
Trapped
In this glass cage
I press my hand against the glass
That cold, hard, unforgiving glass
No matter how hard I press
I can beat against that glass
But still you can’t see that I am
Trapped
Bound
Gagged
And still I can’t escape
And so many people offer me
Their advice
Throw me the wrong keys
To the door I can’t reach
It’s a few steps ahead of me
And bound by my shackles
The way out of this
Cold, hard, unforgiving glass
This coffin soon to become a tomb
Is just beyond my reach
And I stretch myself beyond my means
Keep bending till I break
And still I can’t break out of here
So I go back to the back wall
Beat on the glass that I can reach
Bloody my hands and bruise my shoulder
Call for help
Screaming your name
But still you cannot see
That I am
Trapped
Bound
Gagged
By insanity
Mountains of insecurity
Trapped
Motionless
Actionless
Watching the world
From inside a bubble
I can’t adapt
No need to adjust
I just don’t fit in
There’s nothing I can do
If I make this move I’ll hurt you
That one might hurt you even more
These hurt you, you, and you
One more move and I’ll hurt everyone
If only I was strong enough
To break through the chains
My shackles
And take that last step
If only I had the courage
To break through to you
But for now
Seemingly forever
I can only watch you
In your world
As I sit
Trapped
Bound
Gagged
By mine
I can only pretend
And believe
That you are the knight
From my dreams
And that you will
Somehow see
And somehow you will
Hear me
Feel me
Heal me
Rescue me
From this
Intangible
Invisible
Self-inflicted
Cold, hard, unforgiving glass
Trap