You tell me to be careful
But you do not say why
As if these lies could comfort me
Smothered in it,
The warm embrace of darkness
‘Til glassy-eyed, we cannot see
Polite evasion of barbaric acts
Masked in protocol and detergents
Bowed in apology for our senses
We will erase the unseemly sights
Remaining traces haunting
With the onward press of truth
They do not clap the loudest for you
But I see you
Quietly holding it all together
With subtle glances,
words that bridge,
and a smile which meets your eyes
A twinkle of wry sadness in your gaze,
corner of mouth hardened in a smirk
the only tells of the tears and tatters
peppering your journey
You are never the first or last
Others seem to forget that there must be a middle
The meat we dig in, the medium of our communion
But I have not forgotten
the way you weave peace with your presence
filling space with soft tendrils of kindness
like the light touch of feathers across skin
sometimes drawing goosebumps or jittery giggles
though never blood from a too-easy intrusion
or the spoiled baby rage we mistake for power
I salute you
Shadows follow where light falls
Lines are drawn to make sense
Things contained, categorized
Limitlessness hidden in definitions
Limits pinned and labeled into existence
Reality hacking our way on this plane
But you know, my unsung one
The invisible glue
Embrace the Paradox 