In the shadows of the night, I wandered lost, Where neon lights whispered their siren song, A path entwined with dreams and bitter cost, In fleeting arms where heartbeats don't belong. Through tangled webs of love and pain I strolled, Each heart a mirror, showing shards of me, In every embrace, lessons quietly told, Their echoes haunting with a feral plea. The street’s embrace was cold, yet false allure, A refuge for the wayward and the bruised, In its murmurs, I saw my spirit's cure, Yet slowly found my tethered heart confused. A home was shattered, by deceitful hands, A partner’s lies laid bare like open scars, While I, in weakness, built vast shifting sands Wishing upon deceitful falling stars. But deep within, a quiet strength awoke, A phoenix bound to rise from its despair, No longer lost within the shadows’ cloak, Nor chained by those who never truly cared. I see you now, your cunning veil unveiled, The facade crumbles, truth now takes its stance, Prepare for reckoning, for you have failed, And in your wake, a newfound strength will dance. Within me grows a brighter, fiercer flame, To rise above your beggarly charades, A black woman, unbowed, with newfound name, To walk her path, where courage never fades.