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