Little girl wanders through the woods -

lost, shrunken, and barefoot

She leaves small holes in her wake,

Hansel and Gretel-ing a path of lost and unfound 

 

Little girl is searching for something

she buried and abandoned long ago

A pirate searching for hidden treasure

with no map and waning hope

 

Her heart

She knows it must be here

The one in her chest is wrong

It's too cold

and beats to a tune she's never heard

It reminds her of ravens

and their slow, melancholy flight

Far too unlike the sparrow's flutter

she was once so familiar with

 

Little girl has become frightened;

convinced this new heart will kill her

The honey in her veins has been replaced

with arsenic and vinegar and spite

 

Little girl needs her sparrow heart back,

feeling like a different person without it

She has no love or passion now

and mistrusts any kindness in others

 

Like an abused dog

The helping hand that cares

is a curled fist waiting to happen

and though she knows the saying,

she cannot help but to bite

Anyone who comes too close says,

"She's a good girl, but be careful

That one comes with a sharp wit

and a sharper bite"

 

Little girl grows more tired every day

She can't take much more of this;

of the endless search for something

that's too far gone to return

 

Little girl stands at the edge of the woods,

having admitted to herself a hard truth

She'll never get her old heart back, 

but this new one has potential if she let's it grow

 

On the edge,

with darkness behind and light ahead,

she's split on what to do

She looks ahead and knows

all she needs is water and sunlight

to help this new self bloom

She looks behind and knows

all she wants is a little more time

to remember who she was before

Moving forward is painful, but right

Going back is useless, but safe

Old heart or new?

All she needs to do is choose