Beyond Your Price Tag

 

You, who threw money at pain to dull it,
Spent thousands for fleeting moments of pleasure,
Believing it could wash away the shame,
While I stood, silent, knowing better.

You pitied me?
Me, who has felt the cold grip of darkness
Since childhood, crying for light when it never came?
You think you know suffering,
But I’ve seen the face of it,
In every tear, every bruise on my soul.

You tried to teach me love—
As if I hadn't already faced the worst of it,
As if my body wasn’t already a battleground,
As if I hadn't learned the cost of being a woman
In a world that stifles every scream.

And yet, you,
The one who brags about money and power,
Could not face your own emptiness.
Telling me I’m less,
That I’d need to be someone else,
As if I ever wanted to be anyone but me.
But your shame? It was always there.
I saw it before you could even speak of it.

You talk of wealth,
Of lightsabers, of pride,
But when I cried in pain, where was your strength?
Where was your heart?
You couldn’t buy the peace you sought.

~ Kanika Kaushal ✨ The Luminous Muse