The Sin You Built

By Shireen Rashid

It burns, it aches,

the pain I cannot erase. 

The smoke- 

it rises, blinding me, choking me,

until it’s too hard to breathe. 

My lungs feel as a full of water, 

my stomach as if stabbed. 

A hole in my chest,

as if earning to be filled,

to be whole. 

Yet, I’ll still sail through. 

Through the ocean, you made me feel with my eyes  

I’ll climb mountains you built for me. 

I’ll walk on the path you choose for me. 

Use my dagger where you command. 

But still, 

I’ll be stuck in the dark, cold cave, 

the blackness engulfing the light-

 the one you won’t see until the blindness reaches you. 

You try to build me,

destroying me instead. 

Your sins made me die inside,

stealing from me, where I could hide. 

But I won’t let go, until I fully tried,

To be anything, but the monster you wanted to make me.  

By Shireen Rashid