They’re in Disguise

This book was born from survival. Every poem inside it began as a private place to put pain, a way to give shape to things I couldn't say out loud. I never wrote these pieces expecting them to be read — but over time I realized that silence feeds shame, and shame isolates. I've been through abuse, loss, self-doubt, and self-destruction. I've felt like a ghost in my own life, like my voice didn't matter. Writing was my way of staying alive. These poems are pieces of my truth — not polished, not perfect, but real. If you're holding this book because you're hurting, I want you to know something: you are not strange, broken, or unworthy. You are surviving. You are still here. And that is already enough. Healing isn't a straight line. It isn't always light and rising music. Sometimes it's heavy. Sometimes it's crawling. Sometimes it's simply tolerating one more day. But even in that — especially in that — there is courage. This book is my hand reaching out to you. You don't have to take every word as your own, but if something inside these pages makes you feel seen, less alone, or even a little more understood, then it's done what I hoped it would. You are still here. That matters. — Peyton Martell