A bizarre piece of garment
Neither shiny nor metal
Just a silly invisible armour
How we have
Adorned
Guarding ourselves
Not from bullets and arrows
But from people
People we love
People we work with
People we share time with
Some friends
Some acquaintances
Some complete strangers
Cocooned
and all curled up
Drifting deeper in our shells
Encumbered
Encapsulated
We layer up more
And yet more
Our exterior keeps getting
Distant
From our interior
How we ache to be
Vulnerable & Sappy
Loving & Mushy
Spill our heart out
Share our secrets
Our troubles
Laugh our guts out
Hug on the smallest pretext
Engage in bantering
Spend all our evenings with our loved ones
YET
Here we are
Trying to protect ourselves
And far from feeling
protected
We feel suffocated
As the invisible armour has
tightened our chests
We poor souls
Are constantly
Afraid of being
misunderstood
misinterpreted
misjudged
Afraid of hurting others
Or getting hurt
Afraid of matching up or
being sized up
Afraid of comparison
Afraid of missing out
Afraid of not being loved enough
Afraid of losing
Afraid of rejection
And that’s why we end up with
Fading smiles
Measured talks
Fake laughters
With,
No candor
yet longing for a
gander?
Imaginary or Real
Admit it or not
It is fear all the way
So enfeebled we are
We need to be on guard
all the time?
So uptight , So stiff
What is it really
that is needed
To be the real ‘you’
The inner softness
That you think is so fragile
Is not after all
That war (or conflict)
That you are fighting is
More in your head
Isn’t it time you
Shed that Armour
