my heart was made
to take a beating.


I was forged from day one
to withstand the weight of situations
that suffocate, asphyxiate,


And pierce skin like


It were wet paper.



layered with defenses
offenses, and indifferences,
my soul never saw daylight,
and as I grew older,


i felt it was time to expand.

this was the hardest part


of growing up.


shedding skin that had


become fused to you like comfort


and leave it where it fell,


like a corpse of the child who died


to become the man you are.



it was like I had my first heart attack
when i was 14.
the day he died was
the day i first truly lived.
I found there is no life without pain,


and without feeling there is no pain.
I couldn’t feel warmth with such thick skin,
and it was too much weight to take with me.


this journey is too long.

07/10/2006

Posted on 07/10/2006
Copyright © 2025 Aaron Michael