There was a girl cursed with a gift from the fountain of youth
She journeyed to find it beyond a forest of cities
Burned by war and scorned for proof that there was, in fact, a fountain of youth
The girl went ahead until her feet bled and the people all faded away
Dispersed amongst ashes that caught on her lashes
And even still she would not stray
She lounged amongst weeds and slept by the sea, for the land had broken away
She collected the pieces and put them beneath her
And moved faster as she counted the days
The girl’s legs lost inches and her stride had shifted
As her confidence melted when she stumbled and fell and
At last she started to crawl, but finally wilted and accepted the guilt as she had become too small
The fountain of youth had depleted, she knew, and her insides were arid and cracked
And not a soul cried when the girl died and only emptiness echoed her call
So the world reverted and the mother Earth said, “They should never have had it at all.”