She No Longer Fears the Dark

A Poem

Photo by Allison Heine on Unsplash

so long to radiant days,
those fixtures of other times,
when the glow was worth it
and the daylight didn’t burn

you probably heard of a girl
whose wings were clipped,
her mouth stitched shut,
and her eyes staring up
for something to save her —
anything, please, please —
but heaven was far away,
a busy signal in answer
for frantic prayers

so long to darkest musings,
the worst to come —
when it’s already here,
occupied land

you probably heard of a girl
who rode into battle,
a sword upheld as a sign,
and her eyes blaze blue
in answer to a call —
who knew from where,
it was so hard to say,
in faraway times
scattered in history books

so long to smiling at shadows,
those willful deceivers,
who would trade hearts
for counterfeit…