The Boundary

She learned her lesson well

When she was five,
She knew a life of no boundaries!
She could go anywhere!
Do anything!
Meet the world on her terms!
Then she was six and an odd thing happened.
“Do not talk with those people,”
They commanded.
“Why not?”
She did not understand because these were her friends.
All of her life they had been her friends.
“Because they are not our own kind.”
She did not question because her parents knew best.
They would never lie to her, but
She was so confused
They had been her kind last year.


When she was fifteen it became so obvious.
Had she really played with these people?
Surely not!
Still,
There was a part of her that longed for the old playground.
A part of her that strained against the boundary,
Yet, she knew that the boundaries were there
Holding her back.
Protecting her?
The more she looked at them,
The more she thought she understood.
They are not our type.
Look how they dress!
Listen to how they talk!
What had she been thinking?

She met him when she was twenty-five.
He made her laugh.
He was so kind and gentle.
He listened to her in a way that she had never known!
A life dancing in her heart that she had never known before!
Still there was something that kept her away,
A barrier.
A voice whispered,
“He’s not our kind.”
“We are only looking after your best interest.”
She smiled, sadly,
“I’m sorry but it would never work out,
You are not my kind.”