Dear Wound, Show Yourself

I needed to heal a wound unnamed— too many in one way, or one way too many. It throbbed in silence, kept me restless, took my voice, yet begged to be heard. It curled beneath my skin, raw and red, a whisper pressed against my ribs, a bruise I could not place. Where are you, hidden ache, that deepens each time I try to soothe you? Are you in my mind, where old shadows speak? Are you in my heart, where love once cracked? Are you in the soft fold of memories I dare not unfold? Come forth, step into the light, bleed clearly, if you must— but let me see you. Let me name you. Only then can we begin to close. We are not enemies, you and I— you, wound, are a part of my becoming. So show yourself, not to haunt, but to heal. And when you're ready, we’ll breathe again as one. By Essy The Poet Lets keep our mental health in check.