the courage of a grown girl

I was that girl

who elders dispatched

far and vast to send a word

I was that girl

whose peers brushed aside

I was that girl

to whom picks and shovels were shoved

a little shell whose lips were sealed

I was that girl

who wasn't in the princely refrain

and my motley apparel,

somewhat outlanding earings

enduced curious gazes

I was that girl

ogred to the brink

by those who should've protected me