What Now?

one of my friends just needed something to read, somewhat about them with their permission of course. Also, how do you add em dash without it turning into �" that?

I spent years building a person

out of what I thought I should be,

only to find that when I finally stood,

there was no one there to see me.

I did it all for them.

What good is it, when you’re left with nothing but echoes

and the heat of a fire that never really burned?

I wanted praise,

but the words never came.

Just silence.

And the pressure to do more, be more,

until I didn’t know who I was.

Now, they’ve softened,

but the past is still heavy in my chest.

They want me to move on,

but how do you forget

what made you?

I want to hate them,

to let the resentment spill out,

but they’ve changed,

and I’ve been left

holding onto the ruins of a person

I was never allowed to be.

I didn’t grow up with the things I wanted�"

no play, no joy,

just the noise of expectations

that drowned everything else out.

So what now?

What do you do with all the years

you were never really allowed to live?

What do you do with the parts of yourself

that never got the chance to grow?

What do you do with all the anger

when the world tells you to let it go

and you don’t even know how?

What now?

Author's Note

kind of new to this stuff, please be kind but constructive in your criticism