I Was the One
When I entered that house, my laughter scattered like pearls from a broken, golden thread. They spoke of duty and sacred blood, of promises smooth as polished silk, and I believed I had found my home. I gave them the spring of my youth, I gave them the river of my sweat, I gave them the altar of my soul. I kept the hearth burning like a sun, calmed every passing shadow, and called my surrender devotion. I did not know then that some homes are built like mazes with iron bars hidden behind ivory walls. Some doors open wide as a welcome, only to lock like a tomb behind you; some velvet robes conceal heavy chains. I mistook stone walls for protection, I mistook possession for love, I mistook a quiet cage for belonging. When my beauty began to fade, when the season of my strength waned, the warmth they promised vanished like mist. Wealth and praise slipped away, fine grain leaking through open fingers, leaving only the cold floor beneath me. No family value shielded my head, no honor offere...