The Art of Survival

The voice that we can't silence and the face we can't escape

What do you do when the monster isn’t under your bed, but instead in your head?

What do you do when it’s the face that stares back at you from the mirror?

What do you do when it starts screaming, howling inside your mind?

How do you stop it?

How do you tell it to shut up—

when it’s your own damn voice?

Tell me, what do you do

when you realize there was no monster all along—

only you?

What do I do,

when the monster has been me all along?

So tell me—

how do I run away

(For the girls who were never allowed to be just a girl)

The girl no one hears from.

The girl who always takes the blame.

The girl who cries silent tears in the darkness.

The one who matured before her age.

The girl who was surviving long before she ever learned how to live.

The girl who never asked for anything —

Yet was expected to give everything.

The girl who tried too hard to fit in,

But never truly belonged.

The girl who blended in just to make others comfortable.

The girl who gave her all but received nothing in return —

Always left hollow, even after doing everything right.

The girl who gave without asking,

Hoping someone would take care of what she offered —

But they never did.

They walked all over it, each time leaving her more shattered.

The girl who gave her all,

Just to be accepted.

The girl who lived for others,