Eldest daughter

I just want to be free,
But I' m the eldest daughter.
Responsibility clings to me,
Like a shadow I can't shake.
"Keep them safe, don't let them stray,"
My parents' words echo,
An endless refrain.
Where I go, they must follow,
I'm their shadow, their third parent.
I clean up the chaos they leave in their wake
Held accountable for everything that happens to them
But I don't want this I crave a life of my own.
To be a model, they say, is to never disappoint. Perfection is my burden,
Mistakes, my greatest fear.
I excel, but when I fall, plummet deeper than most. The pressure to accept, to endure,
A weight that bends my soul.
I wear a mask
Crafted to hide the cracks beneath, The pieces of me that are breaking,
Silent in their despair.