Fragile

Fragility
for too long
has been taboo

harden the soft underbelly
so no one could gnaw through
to the heart
and devour
everything I am
or will ever be

but the hardened shell cracks-
fractures radiate
like a grass fire consumes a prairie
too broken to stand any longer
razed and laid bare

desperate hands reach out
searching for something,
anything to hold on to
finger tips graze
too many false friends and fair-weathered hope

only understanding now
that each fracture
must be mended
by my own hands

10/13/11