Sunrise After Shadows

For years, their shadows stretched long
over gentle hearts,
voices ringing out,
demanding every light.
But storms pass,
mirrors break,
the day arrives
when truth walks in.
Those who survived
emerge from silent corners,
tender, scarred, but strong
ready to build anew.
The broken crown left behind,
the noise dissolves in air,
while kindness blooms
in places scorched bare.
No more shrinking to fit small rooms,
no more bending under weight
the world widens for those
who learned
to outlast the night.
Narcissists face their dusk,
but in the sunrise after,
the ones they tried to dim
shine even brighter.