In the shadows where I wander, My heart a storm, my soul a ponder, Echoes of love seem far and near, Yet here I stand, besieged by fear. At just sixteen, the world so wide, Feels heavier when hope’s denied, With ghosts of family in retreat, And aching heart with broken beat. My mother’s eyes, like winter’s chill, Perceive a darkness, lurking still, My father’s absence, vast as night, Leaves me searching for a sliver of light. Why do the tears refuse to cease, When silence whispers stolen peace? What anchor holds in hopeless seas, What refuge in these gnarled trees? Yet in the echoes of your storms, A spark of strength, a voice transforms, A piercing cry that dares to sing, “I am more than this suffering.” So let me be my own embrace, In a world that denies my face, For I am here, with roots so deep, And dreams that stir, though shadows weep.