There was a girl
With a mane of fire
Whose hair left ashes
When she combed it out behind
Like cigarette stubs
Burned between the fingers
Of a writer’s firm caress--
When she handed me flowers,
And her smile sparkled
Just over the curve
Of an angel’s lip,
I wondered if the girl
Might recognized herself
If she replaced the haunting mirror
With what I saw instead.

There was a girl
Drawn up in lyrics
Of a thousand beautiful songs,
So that sometimes words
Dripped down
From sugar-coated nails
As I tried to catch them
And show her
That the shadows that she cast
Were nothing but a darkness
These words could surely crack

There was a girl
Who pinched at perfect skin
And called it bitter names
And drowned in black holes
Dug so deep
She felt she’d never crawl out again--
I wish she could hold her hand
The way I long to every day
To promise skin, and flesh, and bone
It is unflawed as it lays
And to let it change
As it must
So she could see
The sparkle in her eyes,
That gaining numbers
Just might be
The best way to gaining life

There was a girl
In baggy shirts
Who thought herself too dim
Too large and cracked
And broken apart
To ever believe she fit in
But I,
I saw a different girl
With strength from mind to pen
With courage laced in all her braids
And trailed by nicotine
I saw a girl
Whose beauty was
A thousand times her size
No matter what the number was
That she wished would fit her thighs.
I saw her eyes,
And I knew that I would carry her
If she could not walk,
And I knew I’d never let her down
Or at our obstacles balk
She’ll carry me, I hope--
And I will carry her
We’ll someday cross the finish line
And someday, I know,
I know we will be fine.