The Violence I Survived

I wake up with my teeth clenched Same weight inside my chest I learned how to stay quiet When nothing made sense I carry broken seconds Stuck under my skin I made a home in the dark Just to breathe again If I fall, let me hit the ground I’m done begging to be saved Every scar is still screaming But I’m not afraid I am what comes after the storm I am the damage that lived You tried to bury my name But I’m still breathing in it I’m not the fear you fed me I’m the violence I survived Not every silence is empty Some of them bite I learned how to stand still In the middle of the fight You call it weakness I call it proof I crawled out of myself And came back bruised I am what comes after the storm I am the damage that lived You tried to bury my name But I’m still breathing in it I’m not the fear you fed me I’m the violence I survived Let it shake Let it crack I won’t fade I won’t collapse I was swallowed by the dark Now the dark knows my name I am what comes after the storm I am the fire under skin If the world tries to erase me I’ll carve myself back in I’m not the fear you fed me I’m the violence I survived Still here. Still breathing.