Burden

I am a burden.
This cross I bear is the weight of sin.
The same habits surround me,
a whisper of despair haunting my steps.

I am a burden.
I carry the rock of transgression,
pressing it to my chest
as if it were a lover—
a kiss of death.

I am a burden.
Yet grace warms its light,
even as the weight
steals the breath from my lungs.

I am a burden,
My cries are absent,
The world weighs on me,
The expectations of life drown my plight.

I am a burden,
my shadow stretches farther than my steps,
each silence I leave behind
echoes louder than my voice.

I am a burden,
My hands tremble with the stones I carry,
their edges cut into my palms,
reminding me that letting go is harder than holding on.