There she sits,
Tense and grimacing,
Wishing she could turn invisible,
Or become impervious to the pain and sorrow in her life
She turns her face away from the belligerence
That surrounds her, closing in from all sides.
She tries to brush it off,
Like it is just an annoying buzz in the back of her mind,
Wishing it were such.

She breathes in and out,
Trying to control the doubts that run rampant in her mind,
Trying to rack up the courage to stand,
Like David against Goliath,
But wondering what weapon she can yield.
She has no sling, no stone,
No will even to fight.
She wants to remain amicable,
But she is surrounded by violence and hate.

She shudders,
Feeling the malevolence in the air,
Feeling its’ presence eating away at her soul.
She tries so hard to remain strong and not retrogress,
Never wanting to go back to her old ways
Of dealing with the madness of the world.
She has vowed to never again
Take out her pain on herself,
But she has made and broken this vow before,
Screaming at the heavens above,
“Thanks for all the help!
Thanks for destroying me!”

She sees her enemies everywhere,
Incessantly hunting her,
Like she is the mouse cowering in the corn field,
And they are the eagle peering down from the sky,
The snake in the tall grass,
The cat prowling around the distant corner.
They are so much bigger than her,
But she is stronger,
Because she yields the power to change lives,
And wears the armor of kindness,
While they are eaten away by the acid of hate.

She finally realizes that
She cannot fight her enemies,
Just as she learned she could not fight
Her inner demons,
As they would just fight back with renewed vigor.
She instead had to seek to understand the evil,
And thus change it,
Offering it kindness,
And hoping it would latch on,
Befriending her tormenters
Who suffer in their own ways,
Bridging the gap between the bully and the bullied,
And bringing about changes
That will start to heal their internal wounds.