Today I saw a woman on the bus

She walked like the weight of time was tied around her neck

Her skin was creased like worn paper and had an orange hue to it

I am pretty sure it was the $20 dollar tan

Her hair the color of burned toast so thinned out by the years of using chemicals hung limply on her scalp like a dying man clinging to life however futile, I wondered if they still stood up when she felt excitement.

As she slowly took her seat I wondered,

I wondered if she ever made it to Paris, if she saw the rolling hills of Scotland and danced on the green fields of Ireland

Did she see the world like she promised herself she would as a little girl clutching her red teddy

I wondered if she told the boy that made her giggle that she loved him and if he loved her back

Did she finally get that house in the country along with that truck she always wanted

I wondered if the world finally saw her as beautiful and if she finally saw beauty when she looked at her reflection

I wondered if the world gave just as much as it took from her

Did she ever find her tribe

As I wondered all this I saw her get down at a bus stop just as slowly as she came on and in her place was a young girl with skin the color of walnuts and eyes the color of melted chocolate her hair which hung all the way down to her waist was weaved perfectly into braids, her skin was smooth like cocoa butter and it glowed like the sun had personally kissed it,

She walked into the bus like the world owed her something,

As she raised her phone to check her reflection I knew she wanted the world to see her as beautiful

As I slowly put my phone down, I giggled because of something the cute boy beside me had whispered and for a split second I wondered if I had just seen the future