Beneath the flickering of a streetlight’s glare,
Her shadow sways, a monster in the midnight air.
No words exchanged, just minutes of horrendous lust—
She buries dreams that the world discards as dust.

Her heels cling the cracked concrete, defying strength,
Each step feels like a mountain, too high to climb.
They find joy in loud moaning, homicide, and cigarette butts,
But none of them want to hear the anthem she actually sings.

In solitude, she dreams of a sky unbound,
Of fields where her soul can amble and run free—
A writer, an activist, a doctor,
A gleaming star that runs over rudimentary scars.

Yet again the night arrives, the golden cage of her life,
Each stranger denudes, defying her inner scream.
She looks at the mirror, at the dark—
A ray of hope screaming to the walls: “I am more than this body, a glaring star!”