The door to shut the world off
is much lighter than the one to open it up.
Vulnerability is covered by a heavy cloak;
sharing your innermost self is difficult
when those feelings have already begun to fossilize.
So when someone appears to sift
through the layers of rock with gentle fingers,
letting them find you is daunting.
Emotions that you long thought had filtered away
spring back,
filling you up so much
that they tip you off balance and send you tumbling
into the rock pool, sprawling among schools of uncertainty
and trying to find a way out
that won’t crush the gentle life within
but also
won’t cut you and open old wounds.
Yet the hand that found you
won’t let you pull away and hide in the dark;
it challenges you to stay and observe,
to find a way of gaining your footing
even when all sides present a challenge.
