I read hymns like they were him

like I was breathing in the sacred word of

Him.

But there was no sacred text that could possibly cause so much war in my heart -

My body was no temple, but a warzone instead

The hidden mines exploding into the sky,

My feelings ricocheting across the sky like limbs flying off my body -

 

I lost my heart that day and gained a backbone.

 

I should have learned no amount of kindle or care would rekindle a flame of the past;

All we had left was the ember on the ground,

The only thing it was burning was my foot.

I can’t ignite a bonfire if the bonfire never existed -

I am not Prometheus,

I was Pandora, a mortal made only for the games of gods,

My only role the Fool

While he stared on at me.

I only had eyes for Zeus.

 

I lost my tears that day and gained foresight.

 

I now see the future:

I am twenty-something,

Proud and tall I stand at four foot eleven with the charisma of a Titan,

The General of my life because nobody may dictate what I do now but me.

Farewell to Florida,

Farewell to the old Sophia,

Farewell to the girl who hid behind texts and fables.

I am the Sophia writing the next American novel.

 

I only lost the battle, but I still won the war.