She disappears for weeks at a time
No one knows where she goes
But if you peek carefully into her backyard
You’ll find a nondescript hole

She climbs down into it
When it’s too hard to cope
With life’s overwhelming demands
With her pillow and blanket
She drifts off to sleep
To wait until she mends

Sometimes you think you won’t see her again
Cause it seemed so long ago
Since you talked and laughed and shared some fun
Her memory, a washed out shadow

And then one day the sun comes out
And she crawls out from the hole
Ready to face the world again
A diamond transformed from coal

But the diamond is fragile (cause it’s only glass)
And one day it will inevitably crack
Then she’ll crawl back into her deep dark hole
Til she feels it’s time to come back

Most of the time she fights it
Every once in a while she wins
But the victory is never forever
And she battles again and again and again and again

–

©Shelli Carlisle 2012