star

Hearts are tricky things.

They beat,
they break,
they shatter to bits
if you are not careful.
Hearts should come
in a package that says
Fragile
Handle with care
in yellow tape on the outside.

I am the person
who cowers in corners
hides behind
the what-ifs and could-have-beens
because she is afraid.
I am the person
whose shout is merely a whisper,
whose footsteps leave no imprint on the ground.
I am the person

Sunlight dances
across the leaf-covered ground
as we step into the woods
tucked away behind my school.
The trees,
once stark and bare,
now burst with brilliant green.
A light breeze ruffles my hair,
and I know

I walk through my garden in the chilly night air. Shivering, I look longingly back towards my house, wishing I could just grab a cardigan from my room and be done with it.

I look in the mirror,
and I wonder
who the person
staring back
truly is.
I see myself,
the self I've always known.
Yet I wonder,
is this really me?
Is my inside-self
separate from my
outside-self,

you're too young,
they all say.
their voices echo through hallways,
creep into the tiniest
crevices 
of my brain.
you're too young,
you can't be anything,
do anything.
you're so young,