Living Vs. Surviving

Many kids know what it feels like to be able to live.

No fear, worries, or responsibilities in front of them.

From a young age, I was never one of those kids.

I grew up too fast.

Raising my brother from the young age of seven and a half to nine years old.

Fearing inviting anyone over for a sleepover,

because my mother was never sober.

The house was dirty and I didn't have time to take care of the baby and clean on top of attending school.

I was hanging by the last thread of patience that I had to give

But it took years for that thread to finally break.

That thread was all I had left in me yet I made it last for as long as I needed it to,

For I was in survival mode.

As surviving and living are two different things.