The Girl In The Blue And Yellow Dress Poem by Charles Anderson

Her feet splashed onto the wet pavement,
sending puddles of water up around her ankles
whilst the hem of her favorite blue and yellow dress
was tattered and becoming ever muddier,
as she faded into the distance,
with no destination in mind
Yet she ran.
Her feet ached and bled
Yet she ran.
Her best dress is now a sacrificial show for the wolves
Yet she ran.
Without looking back to the horrors that chased her.
She ran.
I wish I could've said the same.
I wish I could have been as trusting and willing as her.
She ran, with no thoughts
nothing but her courage,
and she survived,
because she ran.
I wish I could run.
Run away, same as her
Through whichever stone alleyway was closest,
on the rainiest day there is,
where the sun is hidden behind the clouds
and the last shred of hope has escaped beyond the hills.
Where the only thing I could rely on was my blood strewn feet
and tattered pants.
But I was a coward.
I didn't run.
I didn't fight.
I didn't hide.
I gave in.
I gave in to the darkness that awaited her.
The one she so bravely escaped from,
the same darkness that swallowed me.
So here I sit, pondering in the darkness
how I could've run.
I could've done so much more.
But that's the past
and this is the present.
And I've yet to run.