Trees

She was just a little kid two years ago,
too scared and unsure of how to act.
So she acted like someone else:
someone brave,
someone flirty,
someone manipulative.

And when he came along,
she hooked him immediately,
and when she left him,
he dashed her pride,
her security,
and her hope.

For those two years,
she was so scared.
She could not let anyone in
the barbed-wire boundaries
that controlled her terrified heart.

It took those to years for the effect to set in,
and it took one day for her to realize
that she has finally grown up.