bones

by Aniya T., 15

If my dreams were real,
I probably would’ve broken a million bones by now.
In a world behind closed eyes,
I could jump from the clouds and onto the ground effortlessly,
walk through fire, or fight a man as giant as a skyscraper.
In my dreamworld, I would never break.
In my dreamland, I am invincible.
But in this world, I know that if I jump from the clouds,
I can break.
If I walk through fire,
I can burn.
Or if I go one-on-one with a giant,
the only thing that could be left of my body
is broken bones.
But I am fifteen years old
and I have never broken a bone.
It’s strange, now that I think about it.
I’m strange.
I have fallen so many times,
scraped my knees and elbows on the ground,
had broken skin,
but never a broken bone.
I fall and fall.
I can break, but I never do.
I won’t break these bones.
They are strong,
and they have fallen from the sky and been slammed onto the concrete.
They have walked through open flames and have yet to burn.
They have been beaten up and tossed around by men twice my size,
but have never been broken.

Middletown, New Jersey