Bound And Still

There are walls I cannot see,Invisible,

yet pressing tight

Rules and lines that capture me

And hold me fast from morning light.

My hands remember how to build,

My mind recalls a thousand dreams,

But every effort now is stilled,

Each hope unraveling at the seams.

I watch the world move on outside,

A river rushing, wild and free,

While I remain, my heart denied

The chance to be who I could be.

Restriction wraps around my days,

A silent chain I cannot break,

It dulls the colors, mutes the rays,

And leaves me hollow in its wake.

I measure time in empty tasks,

In restless sighs, in silent tears,

I hide behind a hundred masks

And count the cost of wasted years.

I want to matter, want to give,

To find a purpose, claim my part

Yet here I wait, too numb to live,

A shadow with a beating heart.

But somewhere deep, beneath the doubt,

A stubborn ember tries to glow

A voice that whispers, soft but stout,

“You’re more than what you cannot show.”

For even in this silent space,

Where usefulness seems stripped away,

There’s worth in simply holding grace,

In breathing through another day.

So though restriction binds me tight,

And uselessness can cloud my view,

I’ll search for meaning in the night,

And trust that I am worthy too.