I see you every single day.
Struggling in all of your passion,
So much weight to burden your shoulders.
The depths of your bloodshot eyes,
Burned and etched by desire,
Lonely as the dark side of the moon.
A mere ghost of the woman you once were,
A faint shadow of the woman you could be.
Tears long dried on your cheeks,
The feelings have cracked your voice,
Pain and confusion weathered your skin like time.
Your dreams are frozen in split-level death,
Alive yet never changing,
Endless replays of precious memories.
Layers of scars are all that you have,
To hold your heart intact,
To keep your secrets safe.
Torment is all it has to keep it beating.
Your empty smile is a facade to protect you.
The world would rejoice in taking advantage
Of your constant vulnerability.
So many thorns buried deep in your body,
Making your soul bleed,
Your emotions as abysmal as any ocean.
Your spirit screaming for release from the cage
Your past built out of the blame you cast upon yourself,
For the wrong you've never done.
No reason for you to hold someone else at fault
For the mistakes you've suffered or the hurt you feel.
The people in your life see you every day,
Looking through you like so many windows,
Never seeing past the surface to the broken edges.
They can't know you the way I do.
You're my reflection...

-L.C. 1999