She's a mess.

the girl smiles
hauntingly
in the dark
biting her lower lip
trying to remember
what it's like to be happy
for more than ten minutes
recalling snatches
flashes here and there
but it never lasts

will it ever?

it always happens this way
so naïve
trusting
believing this time
may be the one
a place to be content
have a quiet little life
if only briefly
maybe a cat
to cuddle
shed on everything
a person
who finally understands

but in the end
she's only got herself
a pile of dirty laundry
some discarded poetry
unfinished stories
and burning desire
to start
the whole fucking mess
all over again

she'll never learn.