In being defensive
     the person reduces
     their self-  they are
     self-enclosed as in a cage

     locked-in,  looking only within
     all life's wonders and challenges
     to them are no longer open
     all before them is mist and haze

     no friend knocks on their door
     in stealth and isolation they hide
     shut are all their windows
     their fears and anxieties multiply

     to nothingness
     they shrink
     in their cry
     for solace
      none is nigh
     and in dire loneliness
     they fade away and die