Predetermined by Emily Gangnuss

You
Are
Something else entirely—
A new definition to replace the old.
What did they tell you that you were going to be?
She was a figment,
Fragile and easily wasted.
You struck like lightning,
A crackling storm.

You scraped her out until she was hollow,
Nothing but a shadow,
So quick to the new you wished to embrace,
But with no trace left to follow,
They frowned
And scoured for something that you erased.
You knew better than to leave a trace.
“She’s gone!” but muted words in angry glances
Catch no ears. Even faded shades
Can be trapped in someone’s eyes (she was never real, was she?)

We can say that their heads were too small
Or the world too big.
You threw out your birthplace;
Walls and boxes would not become you,
And you would not stay what made them content.

Your old memories faded out to new long ago,
but she will follow you like a shadow
as you stand in her place.
Maybe they’ll like you tomorrow;
Maybe they’ll like you draped in lace.
Maybe one day they won’t remember her,
The girl with the mirrored face.