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.