Injured

“That’s in the past,” you say

Those arrows you shot at me years ago were taken out, yes

But the wounds were so deep you couldn’t even see the tips of the arrows burrowing themselves inside me when you apologized

Yes, it’s in the past

But what you don’t know is I am still crippled by the pain of these remnants lodged deep in my soul

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I’m trying to heal but I’m stuck in a hole

Furnished with apathetic echos whispering, “you’re not bleeding anymore”

Reminding me of the injuries that should have healed

Reminding me of the smile I should be wearing

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I tore out those arrows, I climbed a mountain, and I put on chain link armour to protect against future archers

I persisted on and even built a wall, keeping possible offenders at bay

But the arrow shards curled and twisted inside me, pushing themselves deeper

Splintering off into smaller pieces and finding new positives to negate

Obliterating any self-esteem I had left in their path

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I began to implode, slowly becoming smaller and smaller

But through the deafening self-doubt and every budding insecurity, my wall grew taller and thicker

So thick, it couldn’t be breached by any offenders

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Or anyone

Alone

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“You’re not bleeding anymore” you say

No, but I’m still injured

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