Cardboard Castles

It was a strange thing, to fall into his eyes.

A strange thing indeed to wander through the maze of wishes and lies

Hidden deep within.

The little daydreams, and personal barricades.

Redoubts and hard points of him,

All the defences he’d learned to make.

She felt as though she fell forever.

Watching his walls buckle but never break.

Through a hellfire of violent storms and pleasant weather.

Deep within, however,

A simple cardboard wall before her reared.

Raised against all he feared.

Brown or tan or muted white,

A set of walls against the night.

With lifted fist she tried to knock

Searched that wall for fleeting sight.

Of whatever lay within.

She knew him well, had known him long.

Yet never did he share his secret song.

There was always something there.

Something in the way.

A place of refuge some might say.

A place of torment without the light of day.

He was safely kept within,

The little piece of him he never shared.

Full of hope and joy unaired.

Because beyond those walls the world was cruel.

And yet within did not he starve for lack of fuel?

Sitting down against the gate,

Closed tight against a world of hate,

She spoke to him behind his wall.

Of life and joy and tears and rain,

Of all the little things she wished to share.

Looking up she saw his face,

The boy that hid within.

His frightened face and narrowed eyes

That tried to find her hidden lies.

But speak she did until, at last,

His own words escaped his lips.

And their secret truths between them passed.

Standing tall she made a promise.

If only he would raise his brown portcullis.

The bridge came down and gate went up.

And the boy she’d come to know now stood exposed.

With hooded eyes he waited there,

Blinking in the free air.

So, in turn she kept her word,

Opening her own locked fast gates,

To show the girl she hid within,

Safe behind her cardboard walls,

He smiled then to she her there.

Wind of truth blowing through her hair.

At the sight she smiled too,

For a frightened boy she finally knew.