Silent Battles

How dare you judge me

when you do not know the full story

How dare you take one glance

and think you know it all?

Beneath the calm ripples are silent battles

Silent battles that cause me to act in ways

I never thought I would

I look in the mirror and I see a reflection

that I can hardly recognize

A constant reminder of the raging waves

that have molded me into this unrecognizable shadow of who I once was

So thank you, thank you for the incessant reminder

of who I have become

I see you made yourself believe

you condemned me for a good cause

Should I render an applause?

Or perhaps mail a thank you card for judging me so hard I begin to despise the image I see

Show me some grace

For the battlefield gets tougher by day

Every second it is heated,

the clash of swords,

the cries of the tormented,

the frenzied chants of warriors charging to war

My mind is a battlefield

It rages,

it storms,

it stirs,

it burns

I dare not wear my heart upon my sleeve

for the world to see

I dare not expose the battle wounds,

lest I face your despising stares

Do you see how I carried it all with grace?

You see the wounds,

but you do not see the battles

You see the smiles,

but you do not see the anger

Oh the anger, I feel it,

it consumes me until there is nothing left to give

Prim and proper, spick and span on the outside

Chaos and brokenness on the inside

Carry yourself with grace they say,

lest the world find a reason to judge you again

By; Marcia Edinam Vormawor