I was a runner
fleeing from homespun horrors that
wrapped around my delicacy like a tourniquet

Only a child attempting to bestir
the warrior dormant within;
having no idea the enthrallment
she reveled in,
I learned to accost my demons

Nigh, even at the wide-eyed age of eight,
scarred
shattered
broken
I found, in a hand-crafted cardboard crate,
my only chance at freedom

Every Saturday I'd sneak away
to my makeshift universe
that gave life to dreams unspoken --

I would crouch and crawl
through thorn-encrusted branches
enclosed in a thicket,
sunbeams cutting into the tangles
alighting my face, piercing my eyes

The oceans breath
cascaded over the brush,
and everything, suppressed,
would fall into a hush
until I breached the winding path

Amongst the jungle of weeds/rose garlanded structures,
high above the jagged rocks
and wide open mouth of the watery abyss,
my hideaway centered --
flimsy cardboard walls,
brightly painted bold brazen symbols protecting all who entered,
tightly sealed with an invisible lock
opening only when voices of forgotten children fluttered through the air

I'd stand silent beneath the incandescent sky,
for just a moment,
breathing deep the silken salty breeze
and ****** my arms out to the sides
like the seagulls hovering over the loud, fathomless cavern of the sea