A Letter From the Cage

There was a moment when I felt like my feet had hit the ground hard.

Like nothing around me would ever change.

Like I would always be just a simple woman, without education, without a voice.

If I kept living that way, I would grow old with nothing to show for the life I gave away.

I started to believe school was just a dream,

something too far, too fragile,

like it could be taken from me the moment someone got upset.

I was treated like a child,

spoken to with anger,

and made to feel like my voice didn’t matter because I didn’t earn money or contribute enough.

I stayed quiet.

I hated myself for it.

I hated feeling like a failure.

I still loved the dream of learning,

of building something for myself,

but I felt like it would never belong to me,

that it could be crushed or destroyed at any moment.

I felt trapped.

Like I was locked in a cage with no key,

no wings to fly,

no air to breathe,

a prisoner of someone else’s control.

Or just a simple mom

whose only job is to clean, cook, do laundry, and take care of the kids.

And don’t get me wrong

I love my kids

but somewhere along the way

I lost myself.

And all I wanted was to know

will there ever be a day when I feel free?

mysilentstrength