she cut herself on paper skin
bled scarlet onto dust
made words and letters twist and spin
ignored the taste of rust
built kingdoms from a deck of cards
and crowned herself the queen
told stories onto passing stars
and countless in between
she wrote until her fingers bled
creating worlds from air
the bloody dust shone ruby red
she learnt how not to care
reality became a thing
of years of childhood past
made characters, taught them to sing
to dance and love and laugh
she could no longer bear this world
built kinder ones from scratch
she made herself a paper girl
then someone lit a match