Bystander

No.
Life doesn't hold me captive.
Each time it puts me in chains
I wear them, fooling all.
A little bit of me escapes though.
In a bid to help me breathe.
I breathe.
I survive.
Live?
I don't.
I stand on the by lanes.
Welcoming each precious,elusive part of me
that manages to break free.
I stand on the by lanes.
Watching the stooge change the masks
and correct the expressions, perfect the emotions.
So what if I don't always get it right?
The stooge bears the brickbats.
She's learned to hang the accolades
and stack away the slaps
I am safe in the by lanes....
crumbling
growing
breaking
healing...
mothballing me.
The real me.