I try to occupy myself from the tension in my chest, trying to figure out which is a worst taste on my tongue, the metallic tang from the cut lip clenched between my teeth, or the bittersweetness of this moment.

I dreamed this day up over and over in my head, romanticizing the moment I could finally escape this house, and now that its here I have to force myself to let in bigger breaths to stop t...

I anticipate the sound of breaking glass, as I slam the golden frame down on the desk

The guilt creeps back up into my throat as I stare at the ceiling, willing her haunting eyes to leave my mind and shatter with her picture

I make my mind wander to anything but her, the clock on my desk counting down the time until I finally lay my sight on you again, or the building across the street, ever so ...

I inhale as deeply as i can, trying to imprint as much as possible in my mind, so as not to forget a single detail.

I am still in disbelief it’s finally here.

For years i have told myself ‘just a little longer’, waiting impatiently for this day to come and now that it’s here I can’t help but blink rapidly to stop the overcoming grief from spilling out of my eyes.

It was never supposed to reall...

As a woman I was always faced with the burden of a million things; often contradictions of each other

I was told to be confident, because that was what men found attractive but humble as not to bruise a man’s ego.

I was told to be pretty, because that’s where my worth lied, but not to care too much about my appearance as that made me self absorbed, and men did not like women who weren’t giving...

I spent a lifetime running

not from a monster under my bed, but the man supposed to save me from them

desperately avoiding letting myself become him

and ignoring the pain and tears with rum

forcing me to succumb to my genetic path full of alcohol and drugs

a familial remedy of the torturous heirloom; a cycle never broken or fixed

so as my mother before me

and hers before her

i hide my...