Unbroken Flame

By Anu Aby Susan

They tried to break me, year by year,
With empty promises, doubt and fear.
I bent, I bowed, I played their game,
Yet still, they whispered, "Not enough. The same."

I sharpened my craft, I honed my art,
Poured my soul, gave all my heart.
But kindness, they saw as a flaw, a weight,
And crushed my dreams beneath their hate.

Doors were shut, the paths grew thin,
Failures stacked beneath my skin.
I proved, I fought, I burned, I bled,
Yet they still shook their callous heads.

But hear me now—I've had enough.
This world is cold, this world is rough.
It does not deserve to hold me back,
I carve my own, I forge my track.

They thought my fire had turned to ash,
A fading ember, lost, outmatched.
Yet deep within, a spark remains—
And that alone ignites the flames.

I will rise, though scorched, though torn,
From cinders red, anew, reborn.
No cage can hold, no chain can bind,
For I am fire, unconfined.