Constellations of the Heart

Won first place in this poetry contest. Was also entered in this contest as well.

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Walking briskly on a day,
One where the sky was gray,
And as the raindrops lightly kissed her skin,
She arrived on the doorstep of memories of all that's been

Pensively, she paused, and thought with much dismay,
The feeling, she remembered, of losing her way;
And as the trees whispered faintly,
The wind from behind carried her up the stairs

Still the sun refused to shine,
As the clouds released a shower,
And the darkness became a jail,
That she wandered throughout the hour

She returned to the world after a while,
But she was met with no glare,
Only the dullness that met her gaze,
And that quiet that greeted her ears

So as the damp grass caressed her toes,
And the leaves they did fall,
One by one,
Not wanting to be disturbed
"Leave us to rest," they cried;
As the souls trambled them over,
And the days went by

She came upon a garden,
And she observed with a curious eye
Suddenly the pictures were twisted,
Morphing themselves in her mind

A luminescent flower,
She viewed through a fiber-optic lens,
Along with everything else she saw,
Her heart, she tried to mend

But through the smoke and mirrors,
Another cut she did endure,
And she went on thinking to herself,
If she could handle anymore

And the wound, yes, it bled,
But the tears that should have followed were not wet
And she began laughing pitifully,
As the rain soaked her head

Yet through the haze she could see a dainty blossom dangling,
And approached it carefully,
Knowing that its petals were pure and untainted

She brought her shadow with her,
And the petals, they did change
What was left was not innocence,
And the purity, she could not take
Pulling herself away from a place she did not belong,
She did not allow herself to miss the visions that she saw

Soon a boy approached her,
Looking tired and confused,
And looking like he'd weathered an unfortunate bruise

"Come," he gently urged her,
"You look like you need time,
To piece together your thoughts,
Don't worry about mine."
After much persistence,
Evident guilt in her eyes,
She said, "If you insist...
Would you mind holding my umbrella while I cry?"

And the ladybugs, they listened,
With their spots and wings so bright,
And the crickets merely wondered,
As they hummed in the night

Under the stars, they fell asleep,
Forming constellations of their hearts,
And her secrets, he did keep,
When they woke, they did not part,
But went on together

And in the tranquility of the breeze,
He kissed her cheeks leisurely,
And she said, "Now you tell me,
Where you were before you got here."

Her umbrella eventually got worn out,
And the walls of resistance soon fell down,
The corridors of minds opened,
Then the laughter overcame,
And the past floated down the river,
As they walked the other way

Hours, days, a year gone by,
Another year will come to pass,
With separate lives that are entwined
And in the sound of her weeping are many words,
It's a prayer; it's a fear; it's a story to be told,
And she must buy a new umbrella while she waits for him to return

After all this time together, there comes a time to fly,
And only the ladybugs know how or why