As a child my task
Was to conform myself to my confinement.
Before I could walk walls were in my way.
Unable to define myself I wandered aimlessly,
Only defined by the banks around me.
Parents placed their levees,
Each one diverting me to another goal.
Dividing me from myself.
I grew voiceless.
I grew small.
I surrendered pieces of myself,
Cutting them away.
Am I small enough?
Am I quiet enough?
In those days in that house
All was orderly, predictable, controlled.
No one sensed the coming storm.
Not me. Not them.
Until the rising flood swept everything aside.