The Weight Within

I walk with the weight of my days Each step screams what silence never says My shadow is bigger than my dreams A reflection that doesn't fit in my small schemes Stairs feel like mountains too steep to climb And stares are arrows that hit every time The mirror doesn't lie but its truth cuts deep Echoing a battle that steals my sleep Carrying chains no one can see A weary body but a standing soul in me I'm more than my size more than this disguise My worth isn't tied to what meets the eyes Food is a refuge and also a cell A fleeting truce in a battlefield's hell I hide in clothes that mask my stride But the heart has no fabric where it can hide Words wound deeper than the sharpest knife And every mockery dims the light of my life But change doesn't come from hating my form It's learning to see beyond the norm I'm not my flaws or the falls I've faced I'm a fighter learning to find my grace Carrying chains I've begun to break A weary body rising for its own sake I'm more than my size more than this disguise Today I claim self love as my true prize