Little Girl
(25 Febrero, 2004)

The little girl sits
Alone in her room
Clutching a stuffed rabbit
Tightly to her chest
The screams are echoing
Throughout the house
She wonders how the neighbors don't hear
Or if they do, why they don't stop it
But she knows better than to cry
Not letting them hear
Tears roll down her cheeks
Soft sobs muffled in the fur
Of her faux companion
Her bunny is the only one who cares
Understands and doesn't judge
Doesn't ask questions
Just listens

A little girl sits
Alone in the park
Clutching her tattered sleeves in her palm
Her dark hair is stringy
Stuck to her head by the rain
To her face by the tears
She sobs to herself
Grateful for the thunder
To drown out the sounds
Hiding her from their voices
She is grateful for the darkness
Hiding her from crude stares
Rude comments
Too many questions
The thunder is the only one who cares
The rain understands and doesnt judge
She sits in the embrace
Of her faux friend
Who doesn't ask questions
Just listens

A girl sits alone
In the corner of her room
The screams echo in her mind
The walls don't shake now
The floorboards vibrate only with her sobs
Her face is covered and wet
She's learned to silence her sobs
Clutching herself
She wonders why no one else hears
The yelling never stops
It's tormenting
And yet she's all alone
The neighbors never hear it
Friends have stopped calling
Stopped inquiring
The screams tear at her mind
The harsh questions
The crude words
Ripping her apart from the inside out
And she clutches herself
Sobbing and unable to say why
She wishes she had a friend
Someone who doesn't question
Just listens

A girl sits alone
On the park swing
Drowning out the world
Headphones cover her ears
She clutches a notebook to her breast
Ignores their jeers
Locked in those in her mind
Smiles bitterly when they approach
Pushes away those who question
Turns up the volume
Pulls out a pencil and scribbles on the battered pages
The writing is how she speaks
The poems are how she tells her story
Small scribbles fill up empty pages
She won't let them see
Won't let them into her head
There's too much there already
There's too much criticism as it is
Without adding theirs to the mix
She sits at the back of the bus
Ignores those who try to confront her
Clutching the notebook to her breast
Holding her faux friend close
It's the only one who cares
The only one who's there
Who doesn't question
Just listens

A girl sits alone
Among a small group of peers
She knows they can't see her
Can't tell what's wrong with her
She can't tell them either
She's given up on them
They see her shell and move on
She takes a drag on a cigarette
Headphones over her ears drown them out
Voices of those who've walked these same steps
Push out those in her head
Comforting lyrics and beats embrace her
Where the others would scratch at her
She puts down their shared lives on paper
Words comforting her and she knows
She's not completely alone
They're a world away but she'll get there
Some day she'll be in their embrace
But for now she buries herself in the music
In her faux world on paper
The love of her faux friends
Friends who tell her she's not crazy
Friends who tell her she's not alone
Friends who tell her she's not the only one
Friends who tell her she'll make it out alive
Friends who don't question
Just listen

The rabbit is long lost with childhood treasures.
The old park is long since torn down and replaced.
The old bus and classmates are long since forgotten.
But the memory of her faux friends remains.
They keep her alive and she knows,
Some day she won't be the only one.
Some day she'll be in their world.
Some day she won't be alone.