To The Hero Poem by Caroline Guedes

To the tiny footsteps following my own
To the shadow left behind me as I go
To the years we should've talked and not fight
To the dreams that sleep in the dead of night

To the crying of the dog begging for a bed
To the ashes remaining in my eyes, melt into my head
To hiding beneath furniture for safety
To holding on and keeping that spare key

To being locked out in the snow long ago
To building walls too thick to be blown
To the pills I hoped would erase the past
To searching for truth amid a blinding mask

To all the times I should have let go
To my mind for blocking out the unknown
To my shelter as I tried to escape its gates
To my imagination for creating my own escape

To the lessons painfully learnt
To my foolish heart for having been burnt
To my naive fashion and shy childlike grin
To my imperfections from outside to within

To my crying eyes for providing me salt
To my guilty conscience believing it's my fault
To the years of quiet self pity, loud self loathing
To the slap on the face, to help me keep coping

To the small and the large, the short and the tall
To the hero inside me who conquered it all