where beauty lies ...

she sees the world
through others eyes
the way they view life's precious
moments, holding a baby
for the first time,
standing in a sun shower,
people holding hands
how beautiful that simple gesture is,

people climbing mountains,
skydiving from old planes,
cliff climbing and sleeping on the edge
of an abyss,

their view of life so much
different from hers,
she's a street girl
learning to survive on the ground level

she's had her own form of
adventure, probably not so
glamorous in the eyes of others,
she's had to fight every inch of the
way to become who she is on
invisible ladders

the ones who don't see that
or don't want to understand
that, have no place in her life
she has seen things, and been
through things that have become part of who she is
not all of them pretty,
but through it all
she has never not tried to see
the good in everything

she has only wanted to be allowed
to be herself, not put into a box
with hundreds of others without
individuality, she is different, she knows this,
she embraces the uniqueness of her spirit,
she may never find another
who will appreciate that in her again,
she may be hurting,
but just like every other hand
she's been dealt,
she will pull through it,
in time

for now, she goes to places
that relate to who she is,
she plans on *putting herself
in the way of beauty*





* Cheryl Strayed