TO A GIRL I ONCE KNEW

If I saw you across the room

I would say first of all:

Your presence is a glow

A sweet warm glow

I would say your eyes speak volumes

On your purity

Truth is your stare

Truth is your walk

Truth is you

Which is why sadness sits unapologetically

Around dark pupils

A hole so deep; one wonders who or what can get to it

Contradiction is your life’s script

Pages of light, Pages of darkness

I see a temple

When I stare at your body

I see hand prints in areas hidden

I see a child

I see a woman

Both looking and yearning for love

Both getting lost with each attempt

I see martyr in your eyes

I see strength in your voice

I see divinity in your heart

Softness defines your lips

When I see you

I want to embrace you

I want to protect you

From your worst enemy

You

I see you when the world doesn’t

The slices in your hand

What made you think you were bread?

The spiral marks on your neck

Your slipping feet; sometimes dangling

I see

Oceans of tears

Red stains on pillows

You need iron

Iron will, iron tablets, all the iron you can get

You need to be held forever and a day

You need affirmations to make up for years of degradation

You need a mic for years of silence

You need an audience for years of solitude

You need to make up, to build up, to stand up, to be up

When I see you I see a lost heroine

I see wrinkled petals

I see desires resembling embers

I see illusions needing to be freed

And only you got the key to let them out

When I see you

I stand witness to the world that did you wrong

And now you don’t have to suffer no more

For the goddess arises in YOU!