I'm a Shadow Within Myself

Unveiling Shadows: A New Poem by Penelope Blakk

We wear so many masks, hiding ourselves to find acceptance, twisting our truths to fit within expectations that were never ours. But what happens when authenticity becomes an act of rebellion? When stepping into your true self awakens a wave of judgment, rejection, and loneliness?

My latest poem, "I'm a Shadow Within Myself," explores the haunting pressure to live inauthentically, the bitter sting of hatred that meets me when I dare to step into the light, and the quiet loneliness that follows.

Let these words speak for all who've felt trapped between being accepted and being themselves.

Step into the shadows, and find your truth.

With love from the Obsidian Valley, Penelope x

I'm a Shadow Within Myself

I move in circles I didn't draw,

In skin that's mine but fits too tight,

A painted face, a hidden flaw,

I wear their smiles to mask the night.

Words rehearsed on borrowed tongues,

Echoing scripts I've never penned.

My truth concealed, my voice unsung,

For fear of losing what I pretend.

I am seen but never known,

Applauded for the act I play.

Yet in crowded rooms, alone,

My silent self-slips far away.

And when at last my truth I bare,

Stepping bravely from this shade,

Their hatred meets me, fierce and rare;

Sharp as knives, their judgment laid.

The bitter sting of cold disdain,

Their eyes ablaze with quiet rage;

They punish me for breaking chains,

For stepping off their scripted page.

Each night I shed this heavy skin,

To greet the shadows in my room;

Loneliness whispers, crawls within,

A ghostly ache, my quiet tomb.

They say acceptance comes this way,

But falseness hollows, leaves me numb.

Invisible debts I daily pay,

Until I've lost who I've become.

I'm a shadow within myself,

A stranger to the life I claim;

Yearning to set down the stealth,

And speak aloud my hidden name.