"when she was just a girl, she expected the world"

For all people whose youthful expectation is challenged by life

She expected that the Atlantic
could be taken home, cupped in her hands,
but soon she knew it'd only fall from her fingers,

she expected to coax the horses
from the wild moors with a handful of carrots
but soon she learnt they could not be herded
into domesticity

She expected to call every bird
from the elms with a few crumbs of bread
but soon she found birds would rather winter
in the frost than be a prisoner to food.

and the bottled Atlantic
would only grow a saline crust.
She came to value other things: the music
of laughter; the artistry of tears cried so well,

that the sore was soon lanced,
the child glanced playing on the street,
with expectations of owning the world,
and the growing crescendo of her realistic dreams.

Reviews

[h d e rushin]

Ms Whiteley: This is major, modern american literature.This poetry is well
thought out with an equal rational-emotional mix.
"and the bottled Atlantic
would only grow a saline crust"
is a light tune I placed under my tongue and have repeated it all day, even
without your music. Thanks for sharing this....hder.

[Bertie]

I so enjoyed reading this.. I think you've really explored in an unashamedly painful way the relationship of humans to the forces of nature and of fate..The way in which the beauty of life and expectation can so often be so bitterly disappointing...But as any great writer you have injected hope and vitality into the poem - "the artistry of tears cried so well," definitely a favourite line I've read in a long while, congratulations you've written a poem with a principle, a message and an emotion which has staggering universality, I loved it :) x

[Brittany]

Very well done. I really enjoyed this. Great word choices and imagery.

[Kaya]

This is truly a beautiful piece of poetry. There's a perfect balance of the story, and the metaphors you weave into it. I absolutely adore it.

[no sun]

wow the fourth stanza is so original and perfect just wonderful writing in this entire piece!!! excellent write!!

[fireblossom]

Deep and wonderful. Human growth. Desire fashioned by reality...Acceptance is enlightenment...

Who is that girl I wonder....?? She is on an important journey.

[The Scholar]

Brilliance.
This poem was beautiful. I love the opening lines.
And it's so true to life, the battle between youth's fantasy and maturity's reality.
I love what you said about finding value and joy in other things though. There is a time for everything, and you can always keep dreaming.

And kudos for the Coldplay title :)

[W.k.kortas]

This is utter genius, and nothing else I could say would embellish my opinion or the piece.

[Ed Hart]

and how does she fare, this girl who barefoot trod the sharp edges of broken expectations on her journey into the world as such, and now struggles to bring it round...how does she fare