Poetry

when the world crashes down
around your head and the loud
resonance of the series of cracks
is deafening as stone begins to chip

tainted with mildew as it
has been fused with salted pain
and yet it comforts me
for years it was all i had known

only the constant asphyxiation
of white hot rage and pure anguish
lived within this martello tower, my home,
my life---my prison

and when all is said and done
i run my fingers along the cracks
mildewed with a thousand tears of frustration
and i remember how they all hurt me

god it hurt so bad---- sometimes i
just felt as if i could no longer
bear the pain---- but i did
i don't know which hurt me more

the pain they caused me
or the pain i did
i withdraw my hand from the chinks
which have now allowed sunlight to cut through the dark

i don't think i'm ready yet
no one knows me
i don't know me
i can't do this

chunks begin to break off
and the brilliance of the sun eliminates the darkness
the warmth heals the pain
as the fortress collapses

my eyes brim with moisture not yet passed the lids---the sun burns
yet its radiance----my radiance
captures me and i run to those who helped tear down my walls
and i introduce myself

to me