Shell

Shell

There is a darkness

an ache

a lull

in the movement of my living

Arrested in flight

first my body halts

then my love departs

only to be followed by mourning

Gone into myself

coiled deep

in the shell of my life

I tend my wounds

Cleaning

healing

bleeding

no more

The shell has wound around

circles and spirals

surrounding me

Ready for the light

I am lost in the sphere

my protection

becomes my prison

How to pull the bandage

from the blow

and not redraw blood

How to start moving forward

when the end of the wheel

can’t be found

How to burst the shell

that rebuilt me

February 1, 2002

Tressa Lee Breen