by Vanessa A. Kuljis

Over the years I lost sight of who I was
While I struggled with day-to-day reality.
Who I was slowly receded into darkness.
It happened so slowly that I didn’t even notice.

I never realized how lost I had become.

For years all I could feel was the darkness.
It surrounded me like water and tried to drown my soul.
Negativity weighed me down and pulled me deeper,
The darkness almost suffocated me to death.

I wondered if I would ever see light again,
If I would ever breathe air again.

Finally my world crashed down all around me,
The darkness almost took over completely,
But something deep inside me refused to succumb,
It would not give up without a fight.

At my worst, the best in me kicked in.
It searched for ways to remind me of who I needed to be.
It drove me back to my past, back to simpler times.

During this trip I reconnected with long lost friends
Who reminded me of all I had hoped to become.
With their encouragement I found inner strength I never knew I had.
I again strove to become who I wanted to be.

With support from old friends and new ones alike,
I am no longer lost, for I have found me again.
The darkness is gone, the water has receded;
I am now free to be who I want to be.