SUNSHINE AURA – self-esteem. self-love. self-actualization. 

You buried yourself in your bed

Held down by comforters and pillows

The television set running constantly

Lights dimmed, only glowing through closet shutters.

 

With each television program that had a 30 minute slot

I grew another 30 minutes older

Each bruise and scrape on my heart

Healed without any help from you.

 

You never asked me how my day was

I bet you couldn’t tell me what my grades were

Or who my best friend was each year of school

(“best friends” is a fluid concept when you’re young).

 

You missed each inch my body stretched

Each inch my mind expanded

My physical body and mind swelling

Until I ascended into a young woman.

 

You were supposed to help me

On multiple occasions

But you bailed out at the last minute

And went back to sleep, as always.

 

I figured it out just like I do nowadays

And it made me work hard

While you continued to wither away

As your body became one with the bed.

 

While you were sleeping I became “me”

Fueled by the desire to work more than sleep

And to turn off the television set in favor of silence

To focus and mold into the best version of myself.

 

Now I’m grown and you wonder why —

Why don’t I want to spend my time with you?

While you were sleeping

I forgot you, like a distant dream.

 

Or maybe a distant nightmare.