A PRISON OF YOUR OWN

Insight: This poem is inspired by the lasting impact of formative moments. A child, living in a garage until his father could provide more, carries the echoes of that time—shaped by stories and burdens that were never his to bear.

A Prison of Your Own

You are a victim of your own prison—

bound by walls

you didn’t build,

but still accepted.

A moment you never controlled

became your defining story,

inherited like an heirloom

you never asked to hold.

A child in a garage,

memories buried so deep

they live only in whispers—

retold, reshaped,

etched into your mind

by someone else’s hands.

Not because they were yours,

but because someone else

left them there.

How do you escape

a prison made of stories

that were never your own?

Original Work by Just Jean, 10/28/2024