Ink Stained Soul…

My shadow loomed large, a constant presence that stole the light from my children’s eyes. Hypervigilance wove invisible cages around them, shielding them from unseen dangers that only I could see.

I held them close, yet distant, my grip a paradox of love and fear. The storm I shielded them from was one of shadows and whispers, a tempest that only I could hear. And in protecting them, I limited their growth, their wings clipped by the weight of my own trauma.

Now, I see the paths they might have taken, the heights they might have reached, had I not been bound by the chains of my past. The chance to watch them thrive, to bloom in the sunlight, was a gift I couldn’t give, a dream I couldn’t fulfill.