I do not need
The light outside
To light me from within.

My soul has found its own joy
and I feel lifted now.

Sometimes I glance back and
see shadows of the life
that I used to belong to

the tentacles that used
to entwine me within
their dark and suffocating grip

reach out at times and
threaten to engulf me
now and again.

A word. A person. A thought. An event.

a trigger at times
is all it takes
for the deep to open before my feet
inviting me to jump and be trapped
inside the depression

that used to be my normal.

but

I have the strength
THANK GOD
I have the strength

the tenacity
the will
the power
the FUCKING FREEDOM

to stare it in the eyes
and turn my back on it
and feel my way

easily
simply
joyfully

back to my new.
my normal.
my NOW.

and I rejoice.