Since The Moment I Walked Away

Since the moment I walked away

I have taken each step with hesitance,

feeling each tile with the tip of my toe –

looking for the safety of resistance.

I fear now that with each new journey I undergo

I’ll be falling through quicksand,

descending and sinking 

to a slow decay.

But each new step has landed on stable stone

since the moment I walked away.

 

Since the moment I walked away

I have moved through air 

that has never felt so clear and bright.

I have waited for what I was told was fair –

to be stuck and suffocated in the dead of night.

But now, 

all I can do is breathe.

I used to lie in doom all day,

but I now have lived in a world new and fresh

since the moment I walked away.

 

Since the moment I walked away

I have spread my wings and flown,

like an albatross that takes up grand space in the sky.

I am no longer slapped in the face and thrown;

Now, I am able to fly.

I have squeezed my arms through the jail bars,

and by freedom I have been led astray.

I have been freed, belonging to no one else

since the moment I walked away.

 

Cerys Gibby, Year 12