The Girl You Knew

The girl you knew, when we first met

Was a nymph, freshly born out of dew and lavender

She was beautiful and bold and smiled widely.

Life was new, she was young.

She was pure and naïve

and weaved her way into existence through fantasies and stories of happily ever afters.

She was strong. She knew her place in the world and had an idea of what the future might hold.

She used to dance on the wind, caress the rivers and whisper sweet things into each leaf she saw.

But she was a child on the verge of transformation.

A bitter and cruel transformation.

Her songs were washed away in her tears and her laughter was shattered by the sound of her wailing.

Her body was shaken and her soul was broken.

Her smiles became a little less frequent. Her glow dulled.

And you noticed

"This is the girl I once knew"

We look at photographs of past lives and my heart is hit with a soreness of jealousy.

I am jealous of the girl I once was.

I peer into the mirror and see the woman I now am.

She is different. Her eyes are a bit guarded.

She has scars. Physically and spiritually. Her song is louder but a tad more chaotic. Her innocence was given but there is a longing for purity.

"Do you love the woman I now am?" She breathes into the rain.

The weeping willow sways to the sound of her voice.

I am still who I was.

You awaken the nymph and remind her what spring is like.

You remind her to smile when she can hardly breathe.

Your arms shelter the woman more than they could have ever sheltered the child.

She is afraid but she loves. Her love makes her afraid.

The girl you knew, when we first met

Could never love you the way the woman does. Each new day she grows herself and then gives herself to you. She chose to love and love she will.

The girl you knew, when we first met is the same girl I am,

Only now, I am yours.