Be careful,

Be careful,

I am not made of steel.

I do have strength,

Sinews forever straining to withstand

All they are forced to endure.

I am but fragile,

A single note in a choral symphony.

I dance to the song of the moonlight,

Un-suited to the role of oppressor.

I am a prisoner,

Caught in the blind of inconsiderate times,

Easily crushed by exposure to heartless games

Played for kicks.

And I break like glass, when cast against a wall,

Flesh splits like ripe fruit

My juices flow in open sewers,

That seem to run, full to the brim

With the blood of so many

Broken promises.

I am not mechanical,

And though my inner workings do not rust,

They are subject to corrosion

And the prospect of erosion.

This is a cruel place.

It can be hell,

Where nothing can be counted on to last.

But in such testing times

Fear is a driving force that can push

In so many different ways,

At one and the same time.

Even create a bridge, too far,

Beyond the reach of many.

Ambition is a saviour

That success can kill.

And greed is a virus,

Social media a vicarious thrill,

A panacea to conjure

An illusion of freedom,

As the avaricious rape and plunder,

Steal the world and all its thunder.

Is that what we are for?

Do we queue at Dante’s door?

Doomed to his infernal suffering.

Is that how this cycle ends?

But what of little children,

Fresh faced and all aglow,

Mark my words, let them grow.

Even motes of dust and spiders webs

Sparkle with more than light,

When the sun shines.

Strange beauty, so easily found

In hard to reach places,

Snotty nosed kids with dirty faces.

The history of millennia, in one single pebble,

A beach full of memories,

A heart full of soul

In each drop of morning dew.

We are all but the fruit of one molecule,

Let it grow,

And with each new division

Let it come together.

And in this way

We may find the space

To be united, in peace.

Forever.