She Is Beautiful

Age 6

She twirls around in her house

Her mahogany colored hair is spilling out behind her

Her cheeks are flushed with exertion

A grin spreads across her face

She is beautiful



Age 13

She stares at herself in the mirror

A look of confusion and longing crosses her face

A wistful sigh escapes her lips

Taking down the boy’s picture

She tosses it in the garbage

A gleam of pride twinkles in her eye

She then sits down and cries

She is beautiful



Age 17

She takes the document

A gleaming smile gracing her lips

She drives to the cemetery

She wishes her parents could have seen today

She touches the scar on her arm

The only reminder of their existence

A look of distress crumples her body

She looks at her hands as if to say why me

The rain falls

She looks at the heavens with pleading eyes

She is beautiful



Age 23

The people surround her

The lights change from red to blue to green

Her so-called friends had abandoned her

She looks around for help

But no one listens

The music booms too loud in her ears

All of the drinks make her world spin and swirl into a kaleidoscope of shapes and sounds

She has just enough time to escape the swarm of closely compacted bodies

She falls on the white tile

She loses consciousness

Her hair is hiding her face

Her body is bent in an awkward angle

She is beautiful

Age 25

She enters the door confidently

She addresses her colleagues professionally

They don’t see the sorrowful set of her eyes

They don’t see how the smile is forced

They can’t detect any insincerity in her laugh

I can.

They don’t notice how she barely eats

How she’s too thin

I do.

But they do notice when the hospital calls

She was in a horrible accident

She may never wake up

They don’t think they will ever have a tear come to their eye

I will.



Age 28

She lies in the hospital bed

Three years being fed off an IV

Her eye lids flutter

The nurse calls in a doctor

She fully awakens

She looks around in confusion

She asks where she is

They confirm she still has her memory

I sigh in relief.

It is nothing but a breath

Yet she hears it

The company in her room leaves

She stares at the window where I am

I cower into the brush

She gets up with surprising balance

She unhooks the needles

She comes to me

She asks who I am

‘Eli’ I say

She asks why I am here

‘I do not know’ is my answer

She asks how long I have been watching her

‘Since I was six years old’ I squirm

She looks at me with a bright smile

I am surprised

She asks if I will stay

I smile gratefully

Her silver eyes sparkle

Her red lips lean in

They press themselves against mine

She is beautiful



Age 32

She walks down the aisle

Her silk dress flowing around her

Tears trickle down her pink cheek

But they are from happiness

She stands across from me

We say are vows

Our lips meet

It ends all too quickly

She says she loves me

She is beautiful



Age 35

She looks down at our child

A little baby girl

She has her mother’s silver eyes

She has my black curls

Her cheeks are flushed

She stares at me with a bewildered look

Her mother laughs a tinkling laugh

Her face glowing

And I know

They are beautiful

Age 58

I lean over her casket

Her face is peaceful

My heart is ripped apart

I’m all but dead inside

Destiny clutches my side

Crying for the loss of her mother

I wrap my arms around her

But I can’t look into her eyes

I look over my wife

And I realize she is no longer in pain

Her hair is still mahogany

Her skin still golden, though paled with death

I can still smell her perfume

I am brought back to another world

One of childish dancing and teenage insecurities

One of first encounters and beautiful dreams

I am brought into a whole other world

I grab a piece of paper and start writing

When I am finished I notice one reoccurring thought

She is beautiful…