I am broken;
A crack runs down the length of me,
Weakening what I’ve built.
I can feel the pain of it,
It pulses in my chest,
Striking at my heart.
I have to stop this thing,
Before I’m torn apart,
But something has tied my hands.
I’m afraid,
More afraid than I’ve ever been.
Panic comes upon me as I struggle,
And tears roll down my face.
The fracture widens;
I must hold myself together,
But still I am powerless.
Something is moving inside of me,
It wiggles and squirms and makes me ill.
I heave as if to vomit,
But nothing is expelled.
It presses against the crack,
And still the crack does widen.
I collapse, exhausted from my struggle,
And a white tendril emerges from the fissure.
It turns to me and a green, pointed head appears,
I’ll be devoured, I think,
As the head splits down the middle.
It opens into two verdant leaves,
As soft as a breeze.
The shell I thought was my protection,
Falls away into the dirt,
And I am lifted high into a new morning.