Austin Belanger writes

Awakening 

Once I cared what you thought!

With insecurity, I fought,

Never seeing any good within me.

Once I valued your opinion.

Words that once defined me

Were the cords within my soul

That you used to bind me.

Once I sought out

What you thought.

Fraught with insecurity,

Your obtuse view

Of what was true.

Never seeing my youthful purity,

A child who valued

Your opinion.

Your words once defined

The cords that held my soul in

And never let my dreams win.

Once I cared what you thought.

Fraught with insecurity,

I walked toward my eternity.

Uncertain of my place,

Blankly staring at this face

Within a mirror.

I still pace,

Having conversations with myself

Over what I’ll tell you when I'm ready - 

When my hands are good and steady,

And I know that I can stand

All on my own.

The face I see is broken.

Its eyes are red and sullen

From salty tears and failure.

But sadness is giving way,

For anger festers shallow,

Just below a heart that’s fallow,

So ready for a change,

Some seed to rearrange this misery,

And give

A reason to change and live.

The Man in the Mirror -- Suzanne Marie Leclair