I am the one sitting in the corner of your mind

The one who is always there

But is never the center focus

I am the one whose words are in a puddle on the pavement

The one whose throat is raw 

From all of the silent screaming

Whose ears sting from the unbearable ringing of whispers

I am the girl who is overlooked 

But exists in the same world as you

Who sits inside the mirror 

Only to have it shatter from the stolen words 

That float in the air that suffocates me

I am the girl who paces back and forth in her room

Reciting memories and “what ifs” to a phantom

Shaking from invisible excitement 

Of things to come

I am the one who preys upon a shadow

A shadow of the unknown inspirations 

That lie ahead

The inspirations that I can turn into words

That will sit on paper and not on sound waves

Until now

Because I am a poet 

Who used to be silent

But the fear of being heard can no longer

Wrap its fingers around my vocal cords

And I am the lost words

Of all of the hopeful poets

Who can’t take their hands off of their own mouths

And let the words go free