woman across the room

another poem about a girl

She’s in an overwhelming amount of pain.
In a cataclysmic instant her life became undone,
leaving her as fragile as a butterfly’s wing.
She is terrified
and confused as a lost child.

She’s like a boat with tattered sails,
drifting in an angry sea.
She doesn’t realize
how spirited her heart really is.
She shows up to her life every day,
even when it thrashes her.

Still, there is an uncontaminated softness
underneath her delicate shell.
Hiding behind her beautiful smile
is a resilience to endure
the cruel battles she faces.

One day the storm will quiet,
her sails will catch a kinder wind,
and she will finally see herself
the way the universe has seen her all along—
not as broken,
but as someone who survived the breaking
and kept on loving anyway.