Each of us is a world
Self-contained and sprawling
With high towers and deep caverns
Open fields and endless skies
Our worlds can collide
encroach
Drift into others
Accidentally
Deliberately
With a rush of wind and crash of sound
Or creeping in like mist, slow and silent
Many of us build walls
protection from encroachment
actual or feared
Walls provide distance from others
Space to breath, to think
To exist
Wall-building is difficult
It requires practice
Rebuilding to maintain them
Sometimes our walls grow spikes
Provide offense
as well as defense
Cause harm
To both encroachers
And passersby
Or they grow so high
We can’t see over the top
Can’t distinguish a siege attempt
from a knock on the wall
Walls provide necessary protection
Room for respite, but
Our walls can’t discriminate for us
a threat from an invitation
We must stay aware
of the worlds beyond our walls
Build walls of glass
Instead of stone
View with curiosity
All who approach
Distinguish true encroachment
From clumsiness or ignorance
Retain the ability to reach beyond your walls
Reach out
without encroaching
To connect with other worlds