Have you ever just wanted to be seen,
To have someone understand what you felt?
Without ridicule, without needing to be mean
But truly willing to listen and be of help?
Have you ever wanted to sort out your own mind
But been so trapped you couldn't explain?
Know what you feel but seeing your eyes go blind
Because there's something deeper in your pain?
Have you ever gone through something
And wished you could disappear?
Let yourself get lost in what you thought was freeing
Only to find it was actually your worst fear?

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Eliott Reyna

I don't usually give context for poems because I think some of the fun is letting the reader insert themself in the words and come up with meanings unique to them. But this one I'm going to spoil because its inspiration comes from an important conversation that is being had right now about the hypersexualization of young girls. I'm going to add to that conversation in an actual post in the near future, but this poem is adult Shiree reflecting on how she thought and felt as a pre-teen and teenager (not necessarily about hypersexualization but about navigating growing up in general).