***

my world is crumbling all around me

hope by unattainable hope

sob by silent sob

tear by lonely tear

i dreamed a dream

of time to come

but have been shaken awake by this

falling falling fallen world

i prayed for a miracle

a very small one

but the clock struck midnight

and the miracle did not come

and i was left alone

once again

friendless and broken

and crushed and helpless and destroyed

and i cried and no one saw

and i cried and no one heard

how a girl with dashed hope unanswered prayer and ripped dress

had lost her way

and i walk

my lips sealed

my shoulders back

my head held high

through the crowds of people

as they talk

their hands cupped

their ears tuned

their voices soft

of that girl who is so different

who is such a failure

and something inside me dies

maybe it was that girl

with the unheard cries and the unanswered prayers

that lost friendless one, so broken

i am a rock

a glacier

impenetrable

unbroken

unwavering

strong