Lost in the Thicket

In the heart of this forest,

Where shadows stretch like hands,

I’m the black sheep wandering,

Locked away in my own strands.

Branches claw at my spirit,

Whispering truths I can’t share,

The weight of a smile, counterfeit,

Yet nobody seems to care.

They laugh at my awkwardness,

A punchline at someone’s feast,

While I clutch my secrets tight,

Fearing that pain never ceased.

I wanted to belong, you know?

To dance in the sun's warm glow,

But here I am, a ghost,

Echoing worlds they don’t know.

The masks hang heavy with lies,

Painted colors that fade and blend,

While I lock away the fragments,

Of dreams that twist, break, and bend.

I scream into the void of night,

But the silence laughs back at me,

"Look who’s drowning in their plight,

Maybe this is how it’s meant to be."

They tell me it’s all in my head,

As if my heart is a fickle thing,

But every tear from this bed

Is a bird refusing to sing.

I build my walls with laughter,

Brick by brick, smile by smile,

But inside, the tempest brews,

And it’s been raging for a while.

These thoughts, they spiral like storms,

Originality bears the weight,

And I wonder if anyone sees,

The lonely truth wrapped in fate.

I’m tired of bending and breaking,

For approval, for love, for a face,

When the mirror reflects a masquerade,

And I’m lost in this twisted place.

So here’s to the wild and the weird,

To the rhythms that don’t fit the beat,

I’ll stand tall in my thicket of thoughts,

And I’ll rise on my own two feet.

Let the forest echo my fury,

Let the thunder roar in my chest,

For I am no longer a prisoner,

In this life I will find my rest.