Self-preservation

Hindered by sharp razored stages of grief
others said broken beyond what mattered
declining to share in their baseless belief
not some image of a mirror shattered

I treaded devoutly beneath the deep
in an internal, dark, turbulent sea
the many secrets directed to keep
I have discovered no longer serve me

Defying odds stacked against survival
I shall escape their painted enclosure
impotent to hold space as my rival
self-preservation after exposure

Standing sound in the wake of bereavement
my oppressors choke on the achievement