Quiet Hour

I paused at the mirror today
Caught off guard by a flicker of recognition
A shadow of the girl I used to be
Rising beneath the surface
But the moment slipped away
Leaving me staring at a face
That knows how to smile
Even when the heart beneath it trembles
Her eyes tell the truth
Her voice never does
They hold storms behind their shine
Quiet aches behind their light
She has carried more than anyone sees
Yet somehow, she still lifts her chin
Still shapes her mouth into something gentle
As if hope is a habit
She refuses to break
People ask how she's doing
And she gives them the easy answer - 
"I'm fine."
Not because she is
But because she's tired
Of being a weight in someone else's hands
So she tucks her hurt away
Walks forward
And lets the world believe
What it needs to
But when night settles
And the noise fades
Her mind becomes an ocean
She can't always swim
She wonders if the girl she once was - 
The one who laughed without bracing
Who loved without fear...
Will ever return
She wonders if someone will ever choose her
With the same certainty she offers
If anyone will look at her
And say with pride,
"She is mine."
Her mistakes echo back to her
Choices she made with the best intentions
Now crushing like waves
Against the shore of who she's become
She can't help imagining
The lives she didn't live
The doors she didn't open
The versions of herself
She never got to meet
And still  - 
As I turn from the mirror
Ready to step back into the day
I catch something small
And impossibly bright
A glimmer
A spark
A quiet twinkle in her eye
That refuses to die out
It reminds me
That happiness isn't gone - 
only buried
And I feel a promise rise in me
Soft but steady
I will find her again
I will unearth the light she lost
I will bring her home
to herself
Because she deserves that
Because she's still here
Because even the faintest ember
Can become a flame again