Fountain of Youth

There was a girl cursed with a gift from the fountain of youth She journeyed to find it beyond a forest of cities Burned by war and scorned for proof that there was, in fact, a fountain of youth The girl went ahead until her feet bled and the people all faded away Dispersed amongst ashes that caught on her lashes And even still she would not stray She lounged amongst weeds and slept by the sea, for the land had broken away She collected the pieces and put them beneath her And moved faster as she counted the days The girl’s legs lost inches and her stride had shifted As her confidence melted when she stumbled and fell and At last she started to crawl, but finally wilted and accepted the guilt as she had become too small The fountain of youth had depleted, she knew, and her insides were arid and cracked And not a soul cried when the girl died and only emptiness echoed her call So the world reverted and the mother Earth said, “They should never have had it at all.”