I turn strangers into stories, every chance I get,
Especially the quiet ones the world prefers to forget.
The shy, misunderstood, the ordinary in the crowd,
I make them the main character and say their name aloud.
For beneath their silence lives a bright and hidden light,
A gleam within their weary eyes that still dreams through the night.
They're wandering through inner worlds that few will ever see,
Building kingdoms in their minds where they are wild and free.
Perhaps this world has not been kind, perhaps it's looked away,
Ignoring every careful word they struggled hard to say.
The dismissals came too often, disappointment struck too deep,
So now they guard their tender hearts and hide what they must keep.
Yet I catch them by the window, watching clouds drift by,
Still carrying secret wishes to a patient sky.
The hero of the story is often bruised before the fight,
The fiercest roar is born from those who vanished from the light.
I know you're rarely chosen first when people scan a room,
I know you've watched attention pass and leave you in the gloom.
You're not the loudest voice they hear, nor the fairest face they see,
Yet alone at night you dream of who you someday wish to be.
And how do I explain that crowds are dazzled by the gold,
Chasing every shining thing, no matter what they hold?
But all that glitters is not gold, all that sparkles is not true,
Some of the rarest gems are hidden far from view.
I know you keep your gaze cast down to soften every sting,
"If I don't look toward them first, their silence cannot cling."
Oh, my poor child, lift your head and let your spirit roam,
You were never meant to shrink yourself to make the world your home.
The earth is green and generous, the sky is vast and blue,
The wind will dance between your hair as if it came for you.
The birds will sing at morning's break, a sweet and cheerful song,
Reminding you that you belonged here all along.
And dogs will follow at your heels with uncomplicated grace,
Because they see the warmth and light upon your gentle face.
They recognize the gleam inside, the gold beneath the scars,
The same quiet kind of radiance that lives within the stars.
And so do I—that is the reason stories call to me,
I write the souls the world ignores exactly as I see.
I hope one day they stumble here and read these lines anew,
And glimpse themselves through kinder eyes than they are used to.
Or perhaps through the eyes of the One who made them from the start,
Who placed that hidden gleam of gold so carefully within their heart.