Sometimes, living feels like a tollâ
an invisible price
that I pay just by being here.
My existence,
my presence,
is met with the sting of judgment
and the sharp bite of rejection.
It's a currency of pain
that I never asked for,
a fear I never wanted to carry,
but one I cannot put down
because it's too tightly wound around me.
But still, I keep goingâ
even when the world refuses to see me,
even when my chest tightens with every step.
I live because
even though the world may try to break me,
I refuse to let it take my soul.