I am Jane Doe

Jane Doe

no one has claimed me,

yet roots attach me to a family name,

while strings tethering me to a title of

"ward of the state".

Of mind digress, I hide within myself

Mouth shut, eyes down,

hide my emotions, hide my frowns

lines of kitchens where warmth

illuminates family gatherings,

fragrant reminders; this is not my home.

Beds that aren’t mine, sheets neatly tucked

away secrets of my tear stained pillow

that bare the folds of my dreams of family.

Matters of missing my siblings,

laughing memories of our shallow hugs

starves my hunger for affection

filling pockets of these empty rooms.

Anger they call defiance,

while silence is named depression

No one asked if I wanted to carry,

but loaded my heart with this uncomfortable hurt pressing on every exhale as I breath out.

Burst of smiling faces staring at me,

like I don’t belong to this home, those rules,

I smile back, I nod, I shrink, I survive.

But inside,

I am Jane Doe.