As a child I would try to mix with sand with chalk
To create a new world of colorAs a child I would try to mix with sand with chalk
To create a new world of color
And I would take pinks and blues, and try to make purple.
I would eat the wild strawberries and admire their tiny blooms.

The girl who mixed the chalk with sand
is no longer a hero in her own story

In seventh grade I recall wishing to a piece 
of paper that I could float
And I drew on that paper with
chalk
Now this chalk could be erased at a whim
Giving me the power to destroy a dream when I wanted it so.
And that dream, at the time, was a friend.
Who would come and destroy all the hate
in my world.

I erased that dream.
I got a friend.
I had many friends. I was popular.
I was also empty. I was an egg with no yolk
to nourish it.
There were many other dreams.
An A+ grade.
A new Kitten!
A pair of designer jeans.
All of them were erased. They came easily.

And I was not happy.

In tenth grade, I wrote on a note pad in an ink pen
"Do you want to be like them?"
And I ate it. My sould Devoured it.
It was nourishing. It was milk to a starved baby.
And I tried to erase it.
i tried to erase my dream.
The ink, it would not smudge.

You might have noticed there was no dream written down.
It was a secret dream
it was my paper wish.
A special wish I swore to keep.
To stay alive.
I wanted to stay alive.
It was scary. Unfamilliar. Like the lions den.