The Burden

See that girl over there, with the obvious old soul?

A twin sized mattress became her home.

It gently cradled her weeping body

through the muddled nights she spent all alone.

She’d been asleep for too long;

not even the street lights could wake her.

All she had were malicious thoughts

and a deceiving likable demeanor.

She thoroughly despised herself.

Her untouched skin filled her with shame.

She carried her secret like a burden,

but the beast inside her couldn’t be tamed.

“Worthless girl! What a sad, petty waste of a life!”

The unrelenting evil consumed her mind.

Being perfectly honest, I thought she never had a chance.

She would lie in a stupor, trying to leave the past behind.

We thought we could save her,

But she didn’t need to be saved.

She needed to feel worth something,

To once again be thoughtful, kind, and brave.

So the old soul arose from her bed

and clothed herself and ran a comb through her hair.

She tried to smile at her reflection,

her deep green eyes still felt empty and bare.

Even so, she breathed and placed her hand on the knob.

Behind the door wasn’t safe and the beast screamed in rage,

shaking her very bones and churning her stomach.

But she turned it and pulled, finally free from her cage.