Born.

My first breath.

My first cry.

Blessed with good health

and

thick raven locks,

sun-kissed brown skin.

I remember

all my lighthearted days as a child

and

my innocence.

I breathe.

The beauty is simple

and vulnerable.

Closing my eyes,

my mind begins to recollect

all the ghosts of my past

that I've so desperately tried to chase away

with time.

But the memories condense,

absorbing all the light.

They

linger.

I begin to suffocate,

drowning in those unforgiving waves

of misery.

I gasp for air.

Because now the memories consume me.

In a cold sweat,

all I can see is a darkness

in which I am victim of him.

No one can help me.

The helplessness gnaws away

at the little strength I have.

I want to cry again.

I want to breathe again.