WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR HEART TODAY?

Annelies Marie

She skipped home from school that day,
Not a care in the world,
Except that boy who’d caught her eye there,

She liked to dance with the other kids,
Run in the yard, laugh out loud,
Sunlight catching in her hair...

She loved the fresh air and the dancing leaves
And tales of far away lands,
Of ships and sailors and shifting sands,

She knew laughter and song
Friendship, and walking quietly along,
She knew the butterfly’s wing was strong;

And on that fateful day, she had to hide away
Because the world suddenly wasn’t safe
For her to be an innocent child at play

Don’t breathe, no light, don’t speak,
Stay out of sight
No friends can visit now ~

Somehow she still found a way
To express herself each day,
And from a tiny little nook, she wrote a mighty, thoughtful book.

Overnight, her world was torn apart;
She became a woman, wise and caring,
Gentle and funny, real, and smart

She had a lovely, giving heart;
Even though hidden, it still grew large ~
She understood much more than we ourselves could ever impart.

Her heartfelt words, thoughts and deeds,
Penned in a dusty, simple corner
Speak volumes, yet not of her own needs,

You see, she wrote what we all know
But are afraid to say;
We’re all the same, and we can’t be perfect, every day.

To think it could have been you, or me,
Our childhood stopped,
A painful end, for no earthly good,

She endured it, she withstood,
The hate no world should ever see,
She paid an awful price...But we...

...We are lucky to be free.

Kira Braun