Carina Del Rosa

I wonder,
why didn't Carina
live up to her dreams?
She was beautiful and smart.
Two things often hard to find in one person.
Caring and multi-talented,
Carina did well in every subject
If you didn't know her, it would be hard to tell
what it was she truly desired.

I knew though.

She wanted to become a Movie Star.
A Movie Star? I would always ask her.
Because the way I saw it was like this:
She could do anything in the world, so why such
an unpredictable choice?

But It doesn't matter now
Because Carina didn't make it.

For a long time,
I grew angry with her
Angry because she gave up,
and angry because she too, destroyed my
high hopes in her process.
Maybe I should not have been so reliant upon her success


But It doesn't matter now,
Because Carina didn't make it.

Years have passed
And sometimes I still see Carina.
Only through the windows of my bookstore, though.
We make eye contact
But do not speak.
She's not as nearly as beautiful as she used to be,

But I can still see the light
projecting from within her.

When I feel she is cold,
Still, without saying a word to her,
I give her a cup of hot chocolate
while handing her change from the bottom of my bag.

I don't even think she remembers me.

By Erica Bush