20/05/2026
I Grew Up Before My Time
You were the first to breathe in this house,
but the first to feel the weight of every sigh,
the first to learn that being strong
means hiding how much you want to cry.
you grew up faster than you should have,
trading your childhood for a place that was never really yours to claim.
I swallow down the words I want to say,
Lock all my feelings deep inside,
No one must know how much I ache,
Or see the tears I work to hide.
You watched your younger siblings
get to be messy, loud, and free,
while you had to be careful, thoughtful,
the one who always had to be.
They see me standing tall and steady,
Like I hold the whole world in my hands,
They ask for more, I always give,
Even when my own strength disbands.
They got the laughs and the mistakes,
the time to run and make them too,
but you got the lessons too soon,
that life is hard, and hearts can break.
I learned that crying is not allowed,
That being strong is all I do,
If I fall apart, who will hold us?
So I stay whole, though I am blue.
You carry secrets in your chest
that no one else will ever know,
how sometimes you feel like a stranger
in the home where you first learned to grow.
People say “You understand so much”
and “You handle things so well”
but no one asks if you are hurting,
or if you ever wished you could just tell:
I am tired of being the rock,
I am tired of holding it all in,
I want to be small and be taken care of,
not the one who has to win.
No one asks if I am hurting,
No one sees the cracks beneath my skin,
I am the eldest, I must carry
Everything, until the end, within.
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✍️ Binibining Licardo
📌 I do not allowed everybody to copy my works without my permission and claim as yours
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