Beneath the Yellow Wallpaper

he did not know it yet,

but she was already gone,

hidden away inside herself,

making plans to leave him.

he built this prison around her,

thought he could lock her inside forever,

believed if he convinced her she was crazy,

she would never find the key.

he thought the yellow wallpaper was enough

to keep her taking all the pills

that kept her compliant,

that kept her still.

he thought if he made her feel unloved,

she would never go looking for it,

that she’d believe she deserved it,

that she did not deserve a thing.

but she craved more,

she dreamed of running away,

changing her name,

and never returning home.

she knew, deep down,

under that tattered yellow wallpaper,

there was writing on the wall,

directions on how to escape.

she clawed at the walls

until her fingers bled,

tearing down sheets of paper,

revealing her next steps:

run

get out

don’t look back

he doesn’t care.

she slumped over,

a decade of her life given to him.

she believed all he said,

she thought she was crazy.

as she sat silently

among the sheets of wallpaper,

seeing the writing on the wall,

she stood up quietly and walked out.

she found her voice,

the key she’d held all along,

to escape the prison

he built with lies and control.

she kept running,

bloodied fingers healed,

but still she runs in her mind,

because he stripped her of sanity, of safety.

when will she stop running,

when will she be safe,

when will she make peace,

that she made it out?