Hidden Spark

 

You see her on the street
eyes downcast
shoulders hunched
and you keep walking.

You see her face
mouth turned down
eyes wary and defensive
nothing remarkable to see.

She once was pretty
never beautiful
but pretty perhaps
with a quick smile
and sparkling eyes
and a bubbly laugh
that was contagious.

Until society beat her down
and told her she wasn't good enough
told her she'd never be worth anything
and that no one would want her
and she believed it.

Then she met him
and he made her feel special
...for a while at least
but even that had its price.

Because then he began telling her
that he was doing her a favor,
no one else would want her
or to be with her.

So she stayed
out of fear of being alone.

Then he began to tell her how bad she was
and he would punish her
he would hit her and stab her
sometimes even burn her.

Then he would ask her
why she couldn't be good
why she provoked him
to do these things.

So she stayed
out of fear of being killed.

He told her she was ugly
and she believed.
He told her she was worthless
and she believed.

So even when she escaped physically
emotionally she was still broken
and trapped by what she thought of herself
and what she believed she was worth.

Subconsciously she began to spiral
spiraling down deeper and further with time
and she started to become
what she believed herself to be.

And the years passed by
and she traveled along
never getting anywhere
running on a dead end road.

Caught up in a viscous circle...
she didn't want to be pretty
because then she wouldn't be wanted
for being wanted left her open to being abused.

But at the same time
she desperately yearned
for someone to look within and love her
regardless of how she looked.

And still she wanders...alone
yet there's a tiny spark
of what she used to be
hidden deep within.

Just waiting
for the right person to unleash it.