the world.

there once was a girl

she lived in a world that has long been washed away

she was beautiful, her eyes were as deep as the ocean,

her skin glowed like the pale light of the moon

she was intoxicating, memorising and when she danced the stars would come to play

people sung songs about her

they wrote poems for her, drew paintings for her

her beauty placed the world in the palm of her hand

and she wrapped her fingers around it

softly, gently, she knew she was lucky

she had tattoos all up and down her arms

words to inspire herself and the lovers that kissed her

pictures of things that she had seen

of things she wanted to create

she inspired people to be better, do better

she would take long walks in the woods

flower petals in her hair and grass between her toes

the birds praised her as she breezed past

the sun would shine patterns through the leaves

and she would lie down and trace them with her fingertips

one day she lay there, in the woods tracing with her fingertips,

when a boy approached and sat beside her

his eyes were as vast as the sky and his skin shone like the sun

he had tattoos on his arms of things he loved and feared

he held out the palm of his hand

he said ‘your beauty spans the ages. Here, I offer you the world’

she looked at him, and closed his fingers gently

‘your beauty beats my heart but I have my own.’

she held his head in her hands and kissed his closed eyes

‘for though I love you, I cannot become you’

he opened his eyes and took her hand

their world’s collided, fed off the energy of the other, but they did not break

two beauties walking through the woods,

wandering but not lost, until ages past and eras changed

until the time came for them to lay beneath the stars

listening to the beat of their fading hearts

becoming one with the earth as the stars shone above.