The Quantum States of Thunderheart

Because it was a movie
his bad-boy charm
eventually softened the schoolteacher,
her idealistic fire
redeemed him.

In reality
all the eyes around me are like hers;
cold and analytical,
dismissing all excuses
for my stupidity.
They do not find me charming.

Because it was a movie
when they walked from the hills with empty hands
into all of the white men's guns
every private citizen rose from the ground
and the truth came out.

In reality,
the two unlikely heroes
will snipe at each other forever
and never get the job done.

In reality,
the ones you can always depend on
to come through for you in the clinch
sometimes don't
in the small pale silent moments
when you really need them.

In reality
no-one will ever walk the back hills of my soul,
I will die lonely,
and I will never know the truth.

The world is far too big for me.
I ride uncertainty
the lid above me never lifts
and my universe never lets me know
its decision.

Anitra L. Freeman

This photograph was created with support to Space Telescope Science Institute, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., from NASA contract NAS5-26555 and is reproduced with permission from AURA/STScI. Digital renditions of images produced by AURA/STScI are obtainable royalty-free at http://marvel.stsci.edu/

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