"How are you even functioning?" She asked
The truth is I'm not
I no longer know how to breathe.
Every moment I am holding back tears
and sometimes
they win.
Yesterday they beat me twice,
in a place where I never cry.
A place where I am strongest.
No one knew what to do.
"It's fine! Calm down..."
But I couldn't.
So I hyperventilated in a stairwell.
While a businessman talked on his phone,
unbothered.
And then I returned.
And fought.
And refused to quit.
I am nothing if not stubborn.
This is how I am functioning.
