my freedom, waves

Vapor rings dance out of my mouth as I think of all the things I have done

Sleeping in a double bed
First time in two years
Space has never felt so cozy

He, a paper weight on my ink-stained soul
It is nice to finally allow the breeze to take me where it pleases

Crunching snow under my boots
The sound of my freedom

Waves crashing their salt-stained spray outside my tent
The scent of my escape

Mascara lashes and new joggers
My uniform for finding myself

Poetry, my national anthem

Friends and late night conversations
My happy place

Kind, soft spoken words are my new normal

I no longer fear his hateful eyes or those porcelain teeth

I know I didn’t deserve him
In fact, I know I deserve all the things he never gave me

I deserve to feel the breeze and happiness
I deserve to hear the ocean and kindness

He once told me to stop dreaming
To get used to the idea that “this is my life, forever”
That sentence was the sound of me walking away.