My curtain hides so much it has tears

Behind my big 18 year old happy body

There is a depression, overweight girl

The depression from a love who passed way too young 

Bruises on the heart from my father who never loved

But left a single mom to raise three kids

The youngest taking a jobon a farm miles away

To help pay for bills and college for the other two

The bruises on skin and bones from boxing 

To take out frustrations and for more money

The heavy heart from betrayal of friends 

The girl who is bullied for not having new clothes, car, two parents, money, or social life

The 18 year old who helps take care of her two older siblings who don't know her dark past

The past where the dead beat father took his anger out on the youngest 

The same youngest who took the beatings to protect her mother and siblings 

My curtain, while shredded, cannot come undone 

These are my burdens

These are my secrets 

These are my tests in life

These are mine and mine alone

No one can take my tests, secrets, or burdens from or for me

My shredded curtain is one of the only things that keeps me sane- alive even