Today she broke my heart.

I knew it would happen–

the day she would come home to tell me

about the whispering

and the hurt feelings–

the day when all you can do is hold her

and let the tears fall

wishing she knew what I know about frivolity

and how beautiful she is

and how the girl who hurt her is beautiful too.

Two days ago, I watched her smile

when we searched through books on the computer.

She’s been dreaming of horses

and so we ordered a book to match her dreams.

And today, when the tears stopped and she stood up straight again,

I watched her from the window

fly through the snow that clung to her trail of hair

across the yard rousing the birds from their trees

towards the mailbox

and return moments later

with a grin as big as the horse on the cover of her new book

and then back into the arms of our house again,

to read.