Good Kid Burnout

The legacy of my ancestors wraps around my spine
like a wedge of cloth.
It hurts when I sit down--
I can feel their threads digging into my back.

I can’t help but witness the weight of their sacrifices
in every step I’ve taken throughout my life.
In the darkness of their shadow,
I light myself on fire trying to appease them.

Somewhere in between doing the right thing
and fighting for myself,
I burned to the point of no return--
a candlestick melting on both ends.

As I spiral in a ring of flames,
who have I become?
I am a good kid--
a sacrificial lamb for those who have tried to live through me.

However, after centuries of confinement,
my soul has finally caught fire
in the golden cage of my innocence.

Now I burn for me.

Let me deteriorate into a wick,
toss me into a river
so that I can finally be set free.

I ache to be in the water--
going nowhere,
being nothing,
becoming nobody.

The gauntlet of who you think I am
has become too heavy for me to carry.
​
Let me go.

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