Hideaway

I was a runner fleeing from homespun horrors that wrapped around my delicacy like a tourniquet Only a child attempting to bestir the warrior dormant within; having no idea the enthrallment she reveled in, I learned to accost my demons Nigh, even at the wide-eyed age of eight, scarred shattered broken I found, in a hand-crafted cardboard crate, my only chance at freedom Every Saturday I'd sneak away to my makeshift universe that gave life to dreams unspoken -- I would crouch and crawl through thorn-encrusted branches enclosed in a thicket, sunbeams cutting into the tangles alighting my face, piercing my eyes The oceans breath cascaded over the brush, and everything, suppressed, would fall into a hush until I breached the winding path Amongst the jungle of weeds/rose garlanded structures, high above the jagged rocks and wide open mouth of the watery abyss, my hideaway centered -- flimsy cardboard walls, brightly painted bold brazen symbols protecting all who entered, tightly sealed with an invisible lock opening only when voices of forgotten children fluttered through the air I'd stand silent beneath the incandescent sky, for just a moment, breathing deep the silken salty breeze and thrust my arms out to the sides like the seagulls hovering over the loud, fathomless cavern of the sea, Losing myself in the mist