Treading Water in Silence

They do not wish to wear this weight, this shade,

A cloak of sorrow not self-made.

They wake each day with silent screams,

And fight beneath the calmest seams.

The world may see a still, soft face,

Not knowing they are stuck in place.

Like swimmers lost beneath the tide,

Still kicking hard, though waves won’t slide.

They’ve journeyed miles, yet seem unmoved,

Their effort masked, their pain unproved.

It’s not that they have ceased to try,

They’re holding back a breaking sky.

To those who watch with aching hearts,

It tears you too, in quiet parts.

But love, though heavy, cannot see

The storm inside that begs to flee.

No wound runs deeper, none more wide,

Than fighting what won’t step aside.

So if they falter, do not shame,

Their soul still burns beneath the flame.

For healing's not a path that shows,

It’s walked where no light ever goes.

And though it looks like they just float,

Each breath they take’s a whispered note.

A song of strength, unheard, unseen,

In battles fought behind a screen.