Removing the Societal Shackles

Heather has a Bachelor's Degree in English from Moravian College and has been freelance writing for more than 13 years.

Looking for a change in scenery after dust settled

Began to understand the reality of situation

Time to pick up the pieces and move to the next step

Not entirely clear what happened now; just prepared for it

Ready to escape these confines: real and imagined

Not sure how much of was self inflicted or otherwise

Secretly required to live up these false expectations

Have to check off boxes A through F in order to be complete

Unable to check off letters C & E for various reasons

Snide barbs coming into play that chipped at not so private insecurities

E's incomplete nature wasn't anyone's actual fault

Cannot finish it due to medical conditioning and uncertain timing

No need to snipe in a few digs about not being able to fulfill it

An unofficial obligation that might be medically impossible

Wanted to leave a legacy behind; now unclear if one could be left

If DNA didn't come into play, which was purely rubbish thinking

Love meant more than having specific chromosomes

Felt like a prisoner enslaved to the control of a collective

That believed people needed to look or act a certain way

A failure if not living up to these unwritten standards

Exacting in nature that turned everything into a grind

Tearing away at what made you unique

Forcing a generic 1980s Jell-O mold onto a 2021 figure

Needed a hacksaw and a blowtorch to take off these chains

Added too much weight and made it painful to walk

Covered in the dirt, blood and embarrassment of it all

Tired of feeling like a dirty little secret that needed to be hidden

Nothing of a tawdry nature that tabloid television

Loved to salivate over for weeks on end

Aired everyone's unclean linens without hesitation

Ran for cover after the exposure was complete

Became an advocate for one specific client

Knew all of their inner workings and what made them tick

37 years of experience would do that

Time to make a move regardless of the outcome overall

Decisions needed to be made for the long run

Scared and also looking for a conclusion at the same time.