I am surrounded by
The sounds, the hands,
The touches of my past
Screaming and crying
And asking me to offer
My condolences

No one asked me if I wanted these memories
I was not warned by
The powers that be
To avoid looking back at
The things I was told
To rely on

“Your past is who you are”
Then I belong in a cage
Crammed next to the monsters
Who raised me to be
“Who I am”

I am the next generation
It’s my job to keep the line strong
To mend the bridges you burnt
But only I walked away with third degree

I am trying to be fine
And figure myself out
But you keep pestering and poking
At a wound you created

I am not my past
And you are not my present
The future is coming in fast
Too quick to pamper your
Insurmountable discontent