Layers of Expectation

In the driver’s seat, I grip the wheel tight,

my father’s voice echoes, a shadow at night.

‘Success’ and ‘responsibility’ wear heavy like chains,

a coat of his dreams, soaked through with rains.

Friends share their laughter, their visions so bold,

but I feel like a ghost in a story retold.

Each word, a reminder of what I should be,

while I sit in the car, drowning under decree.

The fabric constricts, like a vice on my soul,

where ambitions once sparkled, now silence takes toll.

But here in this moment, I strive to break free,

and shed all the layers that don’t belong to me.