Lost Little Girl

Her chapped lips tasted of Revlon
and her teeth were red from the dye.
Tiny streaks of liner trickled down from her eyes,
distorting her face like a Halloween mask.

Her face was once a thing of beauty,
now painted over to hide the damage.
Her deep green eyes were all that remained
but they no longer sparkled with life.

Hard times and hard living,
her life spent giving and giving,
husbands and family come and gone,
children taken for her wrongs.

Selling her body for the pleasure of others,
risking disease and death at the hands of another,
bruises and cut lips from angry men,
arrested and jailed and bailed by pimps.

Drugs and booze her only solution,
fogging her mind and destroying her resolutions.
How many times had she sought to escape,
only to be hospitalized by another rape?

Something happened today she couldn’t explain.
A little girl ran up to her on the street crying.
She had wandered from the playground and was lost.
The little girl ran to her and wrapped her arms around her pain.

She picked her up and gently rocked her,
she spoke soothing words for her comfort.
she felt the child's little heart slow down,
and it was soon beating in time with her own.

In that moment she realized the connection.
She remembered the comfort of her own mother,
of how she had not been there for her own children,
and she began to weep as she returned the child to its mother.

And now she stood in the doorway of this church,
hesitating at the threshold before going in,
but that same little girl came running up to her
and took her hand and led her to her seat.

That is when her heart filled with joy.
Years of pain suddenly disappeared,
replaced with hope and understanding,
she was no longer a lost little girl.

Hi there greyeagle. Another nice piece of writing. When i read nice work like yours, It inspires me to write something myself ..Thanks for posting

reply to post by TheDoctor46


Thanks Doc! I do look forward to reading your work. I hope you don't hesitate too long. I believe we all have the ability to communicate from the heart and I think it is incredibly important in this day and age that more of us do so. Peace to you my friend.

reply to post by grayeagle


That was really good my friend!! Had me to tears at the end.

Very heartwarming and nice to read that there was hope.

Thanks for sharing star and flag
-nat

reply to post by natalia


I cried when I finished it as well! The first line came to me out of the ether as I was driving across Boise. I was going to a print making workshop when it came to me. When I got home I couldn't go to sleep until I wrote it down. The paper wouldn't let my pen go until I wrote the last line. When my pen released so did my tears. I am getting more use to feeling so much empathy. Like you Natalia, I let my rain wash away the pain. Hugs to you my friend.