Proud and Tall

Two young boys taunt and tease her
She fights the tears that build in her eyes
until they overflow and pour down her face
She screams at them as she cries
They laugh and spit in her face
Then they're gone
Almost as if the wind itself had swooped down and carried them away
Their places are replaced by loneliness and sadness
She sits down, all alone and weeps and weeps and weeps
until her shirt is cloaked in her tears
Her sadness knitted into its silky cloth
Her shirt as wet as her eyes themselves
She wipes her eyes and brushes off her shoulders
Then she stands up, proud and tall, and walks away