Weak Poem by Kelsey Draeger

Weakness.
That is our truth. At least, that is MY truth.
In the end, that is all I will add up to.
No sugar coating it, no more lying to myself or you or the world.
I am inadequate, craven, feeble, decrepid.
When people see me, those are the first thoughts that pop into their heads.
They sense it in my steps, in my build, in my eyes.
I am a skeleton fighting to hold on to what little strength I can manage.
I fight to conceal it, barter against it, but every second,
it threatens to break through the surface of my fascade
and risks revealing the weakness in my heart.
It is more than an inside joke,
more than hushed words spoken before lips meet seeking strength through others.
It is an enemy force, ripping through my skin in waves of fear,
settling in nests of disappointment gathering in the depths of my otherwise clear mind.
It is an unmistakable aura, escaping through my pores to poison the air I breathe in a mist that cannot be concealed.
But I attempt. God, do I try, try to cover it up,
to fake smile upon smile, find confidence I don't possess
to appear content enough to make it through another day
though I feel at any moment my bones will crack and I will crumble.
But no longer. No, I can't survive like this anymore.
This infernality is eating away at my soul;
I refuse to be an empty shell.
I may be alive, but this is not living. Time for me to live.
You fill me with strength I did not know I possessed,
I crave whatever little bit I gain when I look into your eyes,
when you hold me, when I kiss you; I need you to show me I am strong.
You fill me with love I did not know I deserved,
give me power to fight back as I see myself through your eyes.
I am no longer a skeleton, my bones will not crumble.
The weakness in my hear pulses with life I did not know I could feel,
as the cocoon I wrapped around my heart blossoms as the fear dissolves
and I am reborn; my aura no longer reeking of pain and fear, but seeping through filling me with a vanilla-like worth.
I am strong. I can be strong. You make me strong.
In you, I do not have to hide behind any fascade.
Weakness will no longer be my truth.
There will be no enemy force, poisoning my mind
with lies of 'what I am.'
What I am doesn't matter. All that matters is what I can be.
And I can be
Strong.