Author Information
The Wall
The Wall
By Muriel Palanca
Brick by brick, she builds a wall so no one can come inside.
Safe and sound in the silent darkness, she tilts her head and cries.
Withered blossoms from trees outside fall like whispers into her hand.
With the lovely grace of an unanswered prayer too tragic to understand.
She hides inside this empty place so her scars will not be seen.
The midnight sun shines cold and stiff, as she sinks to the depths of her dreams.
Imprisoned in her paradise of the life she once created,
Of everything that could have been, but now everything she hated.
Her bitter tears of loneliness are all that greet her when she wakes.
No one’s there to comfort her when it’s more than she can take.
She thought that time would numb the pain so she told herself a lie.
She poured her misery into an hourglass and begged the leaden wings to fly.
And then an angel fell from the sky. He froze her ashes into fire.
He warmed her heart in the deepest way, so she built her wall up higher.
She stole away into the shadows, hoping he would go.
Leaving her to bear the weight of the sorrow he’d never know.
She’s so afraid to let him in, so scared to shed her disguise.
But it was as if he could see right through her when he looked into her eyes.
She turned away so he wouldn’t notice that she wanted him so much.
She longed to feel his hand in hers, but she was dead to the human touch.
Ignoring every word he said, she fell victim to despair.
Knowing that, when she needed him, she’d find he was never there.
He’d be another empty promise, a void that never filled.
She tried to fight from falling faster, but something held her still.
He gave her hope she’d die to have, if only it was true.
She’d take the plunge and risk everything, even though she’d lose.
All she wanted was his love, an eternity to drown.
He echoed through her soulless shell, and her wall came crumbling down.
In the quiet of defenselessness, waving a white flag for defeat.
Surrendering to gravity, she let herself believe.
Because if only for a moment, her perfect world was real,
At least her heart of stone would know what it was like to feel.
