She

Once upon a time there was little girl...
she was meek and mild,
this middle child.

And though she loved being with others...
she often would turn her face and hide,
too timid and scared to confide.

No one could really tell...
for her childhood was far from poor,
she was loved to her very core.

But this calm, quiet and friendly child...
she daily fought a terror-filled battle inside,
always losing no matter how hard she tried.

As puberty hit, a young woman she became...
new inner complaints began to accrue,
hating herself was all she would do.

As music blasted from her stereo speakers...
the closed door was all they could see,
while she was focused on how to break free.

Once she made her escape there was no turning back...
her fragile heart broke open with misguided trust,
consistently confusing love with lust.

Experience made her wise in many ways...
she saw that life could be both beautiful and vile,
until risking her heart again was too much of a trial.

She went though the routine motions of living...
comforted by the assured unvarying flow,
pained by her seeming inability to grow.

Until one day she came to understand...
though everyone hurts and everyone fails in life,
the important thing was to rebound from the strife.

So she picked herself up from the hazy depths...
And as middle age slowly began to set in,
she finally figured out where she needed to begin.

As the stirring simple song spoke to her...   
She went to the doctor. She went to the mountains
She  looked to the children. She drank from the fountain

Forgiveness, gratitude, meditation, inner peace...
Balance became her number one priority,
and happily ever after she will live to be.