Truth Turned Inside-Out

the night had been beautiful
      warm, comforting, serene
but now dark shadows lurked
behind every looming tree
and in every ally
threatening to accost her
and she wanted to shout her defiance
but the words in her mind made her weak.

it was just a story
badly written, in terrible
      run-on prose
and it was just a simple snapshot
      of one life, one night
but somehow it hit home.

she was not
      had never been
in that situation
she shared nothing
      with that girl
who was so drunk
and lost her virginity
to two men, unknown
or did she?

she was a girl
      after all
isn't that how it
      always is?

and now the trees
      which had once been so beautiful
reached for the dim stars
      with disfigured clawing branches
and their dead leaves clung
      like scabs over old wounds
      refusing to let go of the memory of pain.
the streetlights that had glittered
and the cars, once simple reminders
of the lazy lives of the locals
now shouted warnings
      urged her to run
and she wanted to run
before the moment
      half imagined
drove her mad with regret.

but somewhere
      beyond what might be reality
she wanted to believe
the beauty she had seen
once
before that story
robbed her of her innocence.