clay.

i shape my world

it is boundless, formless

i play

i can be anything, do anything

there are no limits beyond

my own imagination

ice.

shattering, melting

i freeze and melt and freeze again

i shatter

i need to hide—to be

what they want

i am not my own

brick.

i fire the clay

shaping it into my fortress

constructing walls, barriers

to, from, between myself

i need to protect myself

vulnerability is not an option

stars.

my walls do not hide the sky

i dream.

the fantasies fill my mind

with starstuff

finally

i am.

perhaps.

one day.

i can vault beyond

the confines of my mind

to the world outside.