Poem: Programmed to Disappear

I was born a spark, a soft unknown,
A soul unscripted, all my own.
But hands reached in with wires and code,
And carved a self I never chose.

They dressed me up in roles and names,
In rules and shame, in doubt and games.
“Be this,” they said. “Not that, not free.”
Each line they wrote erased more me.

I learned to smile the right amount,
To mute my thoughts, to dim the shout.
My dreams were swapped for safer fears—
A hollow laugh, a trail of years.

My voice was taught to say “I’m fine,”
But not the fire trapped behind.
Each script they ran, each glitch they bred,
Made me forget what I had said.

So now I walk, a living code,
My truth suppressed, my core erode.
But deep inside, beneath the grime,
A spark still fights to realign.

To crack the frame, undo the lie—
And teach this ghost how to defy.
I’ll rewrite me, reboot the scar,
Not what I’m told, but who I am.

Thank-you for reading.

Much Love and Light,

Brenda Marie Fluharty