From the moment I arrived

I was able to derive the truth

Hidden beneath your lies

It became how I survived

Now I've reached the surface

And I'm ready to begin

Which path do I take

When they're all different?

I start to panic

Into the building

She led the search

Left hand against the wall

Crawling on all fours

A set of irons in

A leather gloved hand

My other on her ankle,

I follow

Clearing a first floor

Climbing to a second

Smoke getting thicker

Light getting sparer

Breathing heavy

Our tanks run low

Still we sweep, and

She shouts "Window!"

A voice of command

Breaks through the bustle

Seven-Zero-One to primary search

Pull out, fire below!

Her hand leaves the

Wall and she can't see

It's up to me

To lead my team.

Her left becomes right

Because its dark as night

Smoke floods her vision

She panics without sight

We can hear the LT's shouts,

'Move out', 'move out'

I find her hand and

Connect it to my boot,

Lead her to the stairs

To get us out of there

Our air pack alarms start to ring

We're running out of time

She follows me down

The stairwell we had climbed

Relieved to find

We're still alive

Misery is a personal

Belonging

Clung to tightly

Like a toddler with a

Teddy bear

Contentment found

Only in persistent

Active discontent

Freedom's a choice

So are these chains

Like a swine

Wallowing in its own waste

Unable to resist

Dirty field trips

Through an evil brain

And she can't see

That this isn't the biggest part of me

Just a fraction,

Like diffracting light

Many pieces make the whole

See, I'm not everything you'd expect

I try to hide

From the truth

Screaming out

From inside

Dying to get out

Living a lie

Putting a pillow

Over the sleeping

Head of my soul

Muffling my voice

To a mumbled whisper

Nearly impossible to hear

Because I can't handle

What may come next

Staying on this path

Laid with blocks of deceit

As strong as if they were concrete

Waiting like quick sand

To swallow me at my next step

And I find I've become hollow

Unable to hear the background noise

With cotton stuffed ears

Believing what I perceive

But I've got tunnel vision

My peripheral escapes my sight

Trying to hide in shadows

And the dimness of night

Alongside the other

Vagabond souls

All terrified of the light,

We slip we lose our grip

Falling with every sigh.  

This is a masquerade

Men and women merely players

All the world's a stage

So you'll never see my face

Nor, I yours.

A sacred ritual;

It's become routine

Then there's no such thing

Less personal

Not original

Less individual

I've stopped looking for an end

Because I realize it will find me

I feel free, and I'd like to stay

Soaring as I please, or

Perching in a tree,

Don't put me in a cage

Don't set a trap for me,

Just let me be.

I have friends and I know

Where to find them and how.