A young boy embraces life, fearless!
He knows NOT the pain that's coming.
He lives, for now, in his cocoon

protected

Years go by, protection is lifted.
The world seeps through the cracks
introducing fear and self-doubt.

His once free-spirit, wanes!
He waits for loving words,

They
       rarely
                 come

What does come, often with intensity,
Are words and actions validating humanity's darkness.
Pressing into him, bringing crushing pain.
Stabbing his heart, his tender heart!

Slowly, without realizing,
he retreats from this world.
Loneliness becomes his

playmate

A cruel playmate for sure.

Now as a grown man,
He finds himself shy, tentative.
Lessons revealed and learned.

You pass him on the street,
None of his tenderness appears,
His heart tucked away,

protected!

He fears exposing even one more time,
The part of him that's most vulnerable.
His tender heart.

Better to just leave it hidden ...

How does someone think of something so beautiful,
as something like a poem or a book.

How does one simply write their feelings down like they were breathing?
It takes time for some, but others only mere minutes.

The beauty of what some people make
the flow of the words that relate to so many...

How does one accomplish it?
How can a person achieve something so beautiful?
with just a flick of the wrist

She's Tired...
of the broken promises,
and of the broken dreams,

She's tired.
of being unappreciated,
taken for granted and hurt.

of lies rolling off your tongue,
and of the swelling tears,
she'd learn to hide.

She's tired of feeling replaceable,
disappointed and undesired,

of broken hearts,
--broken trust,
and of the emptiness she feels.

She's tired,
of being yours,
when you do not know how to love her.