LJ Singh

A little something about recovery.

Reimagining my past is a heavy task,

a ghost I have carried,

a shadow in my smile.

It lingers in the quiet,

in the space between laughter,

a whisper of all I have lost.

Survival is not just breathing,

not just waking each day;

it is choosing to stay,

to fight for my own story; for my truth and my voice.

To rewrite the echoes

that tell me I am broken,

to hold myself close

when the weight of it all pulls me under.

I wear my success

like a shield,

but beneath it,

I am stitched together.

With sadness, strength, and survival.

It is the wisdom of ancestors, who remind me,

I was never meant to carry this shame.

It doesn’t belong to me.

I am more than the harm done to me.

I am more than the hands that tried to take my spirit.

The silence that tried to still my smile.

I am fire,

I am a story,

I am the bloodline of warriors, healers, and heart.

For every dark night,

I find a reason to rise,

My children’s laughter,

The colors of a sunrise,

the quiet knowing that I matter.

That I have always mattered.

So, when the past calls me back,

I try not to answer.

I stand in today,

in the fight for my future,

in the fire,

in the promise of tomorrow,

In love, I am still learning to give myself.

This is my beginning.