i once knew a girl.

she walked the earth wearing her pain on her shoulders like epaulettes of war.

epaulettes of pain denoting her rank that she had used to climb the ladder of life all the way to the top.

she knew not her rank in this world as she was always looking down.

she looked down so often you’d think she’d have seen the rest of us looking up at her.

her pain became the enclosure of her true self.

we slowly watched it break open as the days went by.

knowing that we’d all be there the day she would bear the fruits of her labour.

we will watch her ride the season of her life through her pain, tears, heartbreak and exhaustion.

she walked

walking the earth like a regular human being. she was one of us.

she was the rarity we all searched for.

she was the needle in the haystack.