my swing is broken.
my home is gone.
my refuge has been taken.
my soul has been ripped apart.
i have nothing to hold on to.
i am falling.

why do i bother, when your minimal efforts put my 'great, inspirational moments' to shame?
just leave me to my wasted time. its the only thing i have.

stranger, continued.

for once, his swift limbs
wouldn't carry her fast enough.

heart pumping frantically
her uncontrollable rage fuelled her spirit
the cold air no longer seared her skin
pure anger turned her blood
hot, burning, scalding
she needed to scream
but she feared her most
buried secrets would leap out
off her tongue and into the
looking girl's ears.

how dare she?
stare with her cruel, judgemental eyes
mocking her, laughing at her
she was the one who should be laughing
she, who kept her emotions safely
away from the scathing world
at she who displayed her inner thoughts
like that of an open book!

tempted to give in
to surrender to the weak human's
misguiding embrace
no, she was stronger
she knew better
liars, cheats, all of them
out for mere personal gain
none of them could she ever trust
just as well that she didn't need their
pathetic, useless help.

his hooves churned up the ground
beneath them
she thrust the reins away from her
spread arms wide
head thrown back
long, deep gulps of air

she could do anything
be anything
be everything
nothing, no-one could stop her
a fool she once was
trusting, caring, believing
now, a fortress
above the ones who had hurt her

untouchable.
unbeatable.

stranger.

girl and companion
silhouetted against bleak, open skies
blink
        and i would've missed her.

mounted on chestnut-brown horse
pale fingers loosely entwined in
worn, leather reins.
back straight, head high
defensively, lips closed
a brief warning to passers by
come close, she whispers without words
                   and regret will follow.

yet her eyes spoke differently
defiant and cold though they were
on the rippling surface
deep, simmering green with a
dash of uncertain grey
i glimpsed a lost child
craving warmth
a bleeding heart
compassionate soul
alone, locked behind a glass wall,
still drowning in her past.

realising her thoughts were
unguarded, if only for a single moment
she pulled on the reins,
twisting broad shoulders and
athletic torso, long hair flying
freely in the coarse, biting breeze.

with an obedient sigh, loyal horse
turned and cantered away
across the horizon and down to the
unknown land beyond my sight.

just before she disappeared
one glance, fleeting and desperate
roles suddenly reversed
now she could gaze into my open soul
begging me to reprieve her of the
heavy burden she had carried all her life.

for a second, i felt it
i struggled under the immense weight
the intensity of the pain
i couldn't breathe
nearly forgetting i could refuse
for only her glare manipulated my senses
i threw it back
i couldn't bear it
nor did i want to.

doors slammed shut
keys bent and broken.

she ran
so afraid
ashamed before rejection
escaping confrontation
hiding in the shadows.

still as an empty corpse
i stood there
staring at where she had once been
overwhelmed with a desire to
chase after her, comfort her
be the person she needed me to be.

but i didn't.

what was i thinking?

after all
she was only a stranger to me.

control.

she sighed, and the mist parted.

she cocked to her head to one side,
and the landscape tilted, trees and dark
houses with bright windows sliding
into deep, shadowed lakes.

control
           was something she couldn't live without
yet never possessed.

it fooled her into thinking
she could do whatever she pleased,
                                                       but really
she was a prisoner
of decisions she made
under the influence of others.

never free, forever chained to the mere
concept of power she can
never have.