The Girl on the Outskirts

She stares at me
Wondering why I don't resemble who I was back then.
She contemplates over what happened
and how I strayed.
She is on the outside looking in
and I have failed to let her in again.
The girl a few years ago could make friends with anyone,
talk to anyone,
laugh at anything.
She contemplates.
She is outside of herself.
She has become a stranger in the same body
acting in ways she never thought would arise.
She is on the outside,
staring through a window wondering why it is so hard to see:
Her character has changed.
Her mind is not the same.
She stares,
wondering how things got so far.
Her eyes ache because they are not windows to the soul--
she cannot see what is going on with the girl trapped behind the haze.
She tries to speak,
but her words are dwindling.
She tries to yell,
but finds herself gasping for air.
The outside girl is no longer a part of the in.
The inside girl has failed to give her life.
As the one resides on the outskirts,
she lives on in memory
knowing she will be
revived to
reality
once again.