They feel an urge to yawn
nearing her seat
in the dusty corner
of an unvisited room,
where she devours a book,
dust settling, slow-motion,
on her back, hunched
in the withholding light.
Nobody pays her much attention -
she's just a little bit odd,
someone so quiet that,
if you stayed in a room with her for a while,
you might take her as "part
of the scenery," an emotionless,
amazingly humanoid, boring figure -
a broken doll,
who no child wants to play with anymore.
She's set up a shield,
a "force field," if you will,
so, in case any rare one steps a step closer
than the rest of the shifting crowd
they won't take another,
but sometimes, someone beats down
the uncomfortable silence shield -
curious at the
innocence,
the plain, far-off look
of a girl who's lost in the pages
of a lost, closed tome -
and they ask, maybe, what she's
reading,
and, maybe, she'll reply,
like she said to me,
"I'm reading people,
and life,
so they can, maybe,
learn to read me."
Author notes
Plain Janes
A contest entry
- Plain Janes by Janetheplain.
475 points, ended December 23, 2008, 9 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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Aw this was beautiful. I can picture this, awesome imagery. The ending is so sweet. Couldn't have said it better. Thanks for entering, Jane
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This is definately thought provoking. It can be seen in several lights and the title might actually determine how someone see's it. I was thinking maybe,
Self Indulgance
Random Fishing
I also think that Errant Panther's suggestion was good. Thanks for sharing UNT.
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a very deep and sad piece you have penned here about the withdrawal of a soul from interacting with others, whether it be for fear of being hurt or lack of self esteem. title suggestion "her own world" perhaps?
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Brilliantly penned, truly...
Well said, fine poet
with all lines leading to cleverness and beauty. 
A thoughtful write. 
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