I was taking a walk late one night because I couldn't sleep
Just a stroll around the neighborhood as I let my mind wander freely
I walked over to the playground where I used to pretend I was the queen of the world
I sat down on a swing
creeeek creeeek creeeek

Times have changed so drastically since I was young
I've seen four families move in and out of the house next door
I watched the old couple who used to walk their little white dogs disappear
First the dog, then the man
The woman stopped walking, too
The little girls who used to sell Girl Scout cookies from their rusted red wagon grew up and moved away

And that’s when I see her
sitting on her porch swing
gently rocking back and forth
back and forth
with an expression on her face that reads
save me from myself

her eyes, so sad, glisten in the moonlight
her hair
so straight and pale yellow like the straw in the hay bales at festival
cover her tearstained face
her hands
so delicate, yet strong

hunched over a notebook
she scribbles her woes
ink bleeds soul onto the paper
painting the most beautiful picture

a picture of misery and hunger
a picture of betrayal and twisted roads of insolence
a picture of anger and frustration
a collision of colours splashing the pages as she drowns herself
in tears

I take a couple steps back
This girl is so familiar
I know this girl

Might she be me?