For far too long I hid the best of me to fit into the social norms, as my daughter gets older I realise how important it is to be authentically ourselves. This was my inspiration for this poem.

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I started to peel off the final layer, hands shaking, what would I find

Would I be disappointed yet again, would I finally have to admit to total failure

Thoughts in my mind, telling me I would find only misery, nothing unique

I would not be able to face the truth, I would be finally weighed down too much

I have worked hard to find the real me again, find what was buried under layers

Too many years of being told I was nothing, quashed me under mounds of layers

Each one I had taken off had stung, each time I felt more awake

As the final layer drops to the floor, I let the sting pass

I look within, I find a woman who is determined, caring, loving & kind

I know this woman, this woman I let come forth

I will not bury any of myself again.

By Ellysa Greenhalgh

From: Australia

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