Dear Trauma,

Yesterday, and thousands of yesterdays past, you kept me imprisoned. Strangled in your invisible vice. Trapped in an encompassing, impenetrable fortress.

In the yesterdays, I endeavored to escape. Years of attempted jailbreaks masquerading as caprice.

But today, I will not be your prisoner. The shackles shattered. The vice obliterated. The walls crumbling.

Today, I reclaim my role as navigator. Embarking on my journey toward a magnificent, hopeful future.

Today, I own you. You are my trauma; I am not your victim!

Today I am free. I survived you.

-R.L.B., Survivor