It’s stuck in my throat,

Immovable

Suffocating.

I can barely breathe

It seeps down into my chest

Across my shoulders

It clamps me down.

I’m stuck

I can’t move

I can barely breathe.

I want to scream

I want to be known

I want to be freed -

Freed from the blame and the misconception

I want to be known.

I want to be seen, 

I want to be accepted

I want the approval.

It’s here,

I have it.

It’s within mySELF.

I know me.

I see me. 

I have it.

It’s been here all along.

I don’t need it from anywhere else.

I have it here within mySELF.

And then, with this knowing - 

It’s gone. 

I can breathe again …