Huzzah! Found a really old poem I wrote...

While packing, I've been going through papers and such, revisiting old memories. Many make me smile. Some make me nostalgic. One brought tears to my eyes. These boxes contain the physical record of my life, and while some of it is painful, all are important pieces contributing to who I am today.

The best thing so far... I found an old literary magazine put out by my high school back in 2002. Inside, I found something infinitely precious to me - a poem I wrote when I was 13, which I had previously believed to have been forever lost when I had to leave behind most of my things a couple of years later. I look at it now and want to reach back in time to the lonely, sad, lost girl I was then and tell her that everything will be all right, that she will have so many people in her life who love her and she will be happy, and thank her for hanging in there and making me me.

I wrote this poem so long ago... looking at it now, I see many ways in which I could edit and improve upon it - some of the words I used to make a rhyme scheme make me cringe now - but somehow, I think it's better to leave it as is.

Shattered Innocence

She came into this world, 

expecting everything to be fair,

treating every person

with infinite care.

She came into this world, 

smarter than most

but at the same time naive,

thought nobody would lie, cheat, or boast.

She came into this world,

as a delicate flower

drinking in the knowledge

that would lead to power.

She came into this world

knowing that nothing could make her pretend

that she was who she wasn't

so nobody called her their friend.

She came into this world, 

loving, just, kind and alone

But in a world like ours,

she could only learn a hateful tone.