THE WALL

It wasn’t built for her. But it called her anyway.

It circled the city with great grandeur, built to protect, and to isolate.
The people adapted.
They built their homes, their lives, into its shadow.
Nestled into every crevice it allowed them.

The wars came and went.
The walls crumbled and were rebuilt.

How could it have known;
That the blood-soaked stone would once again sparkle in the sun competing for the attention of the sky.

The walls purpose of defense would be forgotten, softened by time.

That children would climb its oversized steps with great effort and laughter, using hands and knees to hoist their small bodies toward the heavens.

That with each step, they’d feel a growing sense of belonging.
That its embrace would grow tighter, not colder.

How could it have known that generations would come not for war, but for wonder.
That centuries after the first stone was laid, a girl from a faraway country would walk its path.

That it would reach through time to wrap itself around her heart,
And change her course forever.