freedom

I edit every conversation

Just to fit the shape they want to see

Responsibility became my language

Like

That's the whole of me

I learned to stand composed before

I learned to ask for air

I don't disappear, I discipline

Till nothing spills out there

They feel the tension when I walk in

But never ask me why

They read control as confidence

They don't see me holding life

I don't need freedom for escape

I need it like I need to breathe

There's a fire in my chest

And it's been burning inside me

I need freedom to feel loudly

Without fixing every tone

To not be strong, to not be flawless

To not carry the world alone

They think I'm hiding something darker

Something I won't name out loud

But what I'm hiding isn't shocking

It's the weight of holding calm

I keep my spine so straight

That it looks like secrecy

Truth is I've been tightening the leash

On everything in me

Some of them sense the pressure

They just guess the reason wrong

They hear the silence, not the choke

They miss the scream inside the calm

I don't need freedom for escape

I need it like I need to breathe

There's a fire in my chest

And it's been burning inside me

I need freedom to feel loudly

Without fixing every tone

To not be strong, to not be flawless

To not carry the world alone

I don't want chaos

I want air

I don't want saving

I want space

This isn't weakness

This is restraint

And it's costing me more

Every day

If the mask slips

I won't crack slow

I won't fall neat

I'll overflow

So if you feel there's something missing

You're not wrong

Just looking close

It's not a secret

It's a breath

I've been denying the most