Matilda's Tale

Matilda Bagshot never left her home

She ate the plants in her garden

Read the books she wrote

And vowed she wouldn't roam

Because, although she would never admit

Matilda was afraid

Afraid of who she might meet

And what they would say

Of the Things she would see

Who she might be

What if her heart broke?

Or what if she ran into bad folk

And this fear stopped her feet

It stifled her dreams

And never let her leave

Through the cold and through the heat

Matilda stayed

Until was old and dull

Alone with her regrets

Finally, on her last day

She got up

bones creaking like old swing sets

And walked to town

Saw children laughing and running in the street

And Matilda smiled

For the first and last time

Her last words are

Still written on her gravestone

Fear is the Devil in your heart

Never let him win.