Eggshells
There comes a time
In life
When you realize that the world
Is not on your side.
That, no matter how you were raised,
No matter what you were told
As your parents kissed your
Forehead and rocked you to sleep,
It will never do what you wish it would.
What you think it should.
Sometimes it comes in the shape
Of loss.
Grief.
Other times as a slap
To the face or a baptism in
Freezing water on a
Freezing day.
For me,
It was friendship.
Strained friendship that was made
Of broken eggshells.
And, damn, did walking on them hurt.
Every step I took
Painted the ground red and I
Soon retraced them,
For I realized
The pain I was feeling did not start
At my feet. It started
Behind my eyes as I cried.
I was tired.
Tired of the scolding that came along
With being different.
Tired of hearing that I deserved to be heard
And only being silenced.
Tired of living in a world
Where I wasn’t wanted.
Tired of eggshells.
So I wrote this poem.
Because I’m sick of tired.
Of being stepped on
And spit on
And turned on by friends I
Learned were capable
Of being not-so-friendly.
But while the world may
Be devoted
To keeping you down,
There must be a time
In life
When you realize the world
Doesn’t
Really
Matter.