Pages
She lives between the
pages
steeped in lives
crafted in ink
safely
removed from the real thing
so messy
so not black and white
Easier to love
to take
to need
to hate on flat pages
borrowing someone else’s life
Where the adulteress is forgiven
does not lose her children
can put the pieces together again
Where death is deeply felt but finite
a good cry and it’s over
forgotten
Where children die
but not hers
Where children grow up whole
made stronger
by the pitfalls
she couldn’t quite clear
Where men are longed for
twisting her heart
and she always gets the one she wants
is never punished
for the wanting
Where possibility still
exists
in the limpid eyes
of the strong female lead
who never doubts herself
never makes choices
she can’t make right
Where she can live
her fantasies
over and over
protected
from the shortcomings
of mere human beings
Where the words stuck on
pages
mean what she wants them
to mean
and she can simply turn the
page
on the ugly parts
--Katherine M. Searle
29 October 2007
