Still Standing

You took your turns, one after one. Closed fists, closed doors,

nowhere to run. Names like knives, they cut me thin. Laughed while you

tried to bury me in classroom corners, backyard threats. Hands that hurt,

minds that neglected. You fed me fear. You fed me shame.

Told me silence was part of the game. I learned to breathe through broken

night. Learned how to stand in losing fights. Every scar you

carved in me turned into proof I still can breathe. There's nothing more

you can do to me now. I've been to the floor. I've been face