They threw stones at her

Hurled insults they

Knew would stick

Sticks and stones

Broke her bones

And words were ever hurting

She grew gray

And sat alone

On the playground

Underneath a foggy sky

The swing set groaning

With their shared pain

The voices of the clamor

Grew into the voices

She no longer had to

Strain to hear

Above the din,

She heard at last

A whisper

A tiny whisper she

Would have ignored

Had it not been for its message

‘Fight, hope, survive!’

It would speak

She listened

With her heart

And became the girl

Who stood apart

On purpose

That walked with her own

Message of power

She became pure sunshine

To the foggy school

And no one could

Stop her glow

For she burned

From within

With the message she was

Willing to hear

Above the clamor

She heard the truth

In a whisper