To love as freely as a child again. Like a child, afraid of going to school Afraid to leave their mother and father For fear that they won't be here when she comes home Fear of cooties from the boys Boys that eventually become an elementary crush A crush that blossoms into middle school feelings Feelings that will be brushed off by friends Friends who leave her unattended at the most vulnerable times Where vulnerability renders her temporarily blind Temporarily stuck in a hopeless place she can't escape A place so desperate she can't imagine life without it- And to imagine- she isn't even done with freshman year. To hope that the years will roll by fast enough So fast she can't acknowledge that they go by Can't acknowledge the feelings she's putting herself through She's killing herself, and nobody seems to realize yet. To feel as if whatever-God-is-out-there must, To listen as if prayers were flooding in minute by minute Prayers to end the pain, Pain that she shares, But cannot share because nobody will hear her Her prayers drift by silent ears and go unnoticed And when turned-off ears fail to hear her, Her anger doesn't fail to boil up, to create something horrible, Something horrible that has never really been her Something she never realized she had Until she realized something else. To let anger and sadness take control in such a strong way, Something else had to stop being in control- To love as freely as a child again. Not only to love others, But herself.