I remember

I remember

Walking with friends

Arms flung casually around each other's shoulders

Unaffected

Laughing and joking

Whispering about stupid stuff

Without a care in the world

Running through the wild grass

Tumbling head over heels

Jumping over one another

Grappling in a rolling maul,

A rugby scrum.

Until we got older

Less tolerant of innocence

More wary of intimacy.

Constructing new identities

From the inside out

Building complex boxes

To climb into

Pulling down the lid

To shut ourselves in,

Alone.

A friend once said he loved me like a brother

Until he didn’t

So many men

Lost to isolation.

Is it any wonder

We lose touch with our humanity

Afraid to make a connection

Keeping our distance

Using language and polite discourse

To further the divide

Between an internal world

Full of ifs, buts, whys and wherefores

And an outer shell

With its fashionably suited

Skintight armour

Built to protect against

Potential friend and foe alike

Is it any wonder…