I could not

I was never good enough,
I always fell short by others’ standards.
Sometimes I even fell below,
By whose measure? By what standard?

They always wanted more from me; I could never give enough, not to anyone, not ever.
I do not believe I will ever be enough from now on.

But when I asked for even a little more from them,
They dismissed me with their mocking words.
Was I the one who gave you too much in your life?
Was I the one who cried through nights just to defend what was right?
Or were you the ones who made me feel this way?

I was never like this.

You saw yourselves as irreplaceable and your beliefs as unchangeable.
But there was something you did not understand.
You were not irreplaceable,
Nor was I destined to be a prisoner of your fixed ideas.