Into myself

I stared;

throat closed and

sealed with shame.

I choked on the

taste of failure

and bit my tongue

in guilt.

I dove through

my shadow and

found my breath on

the face of the sun;

the scorch of justice

and the sting of the burn

enough to open my 

airways just enough

to let out a scream;

all I needed to find

the voice to speak

was enough pain to

make me forget what

life was without need;

the life I led before

I held understood my meaning.