You built sturdy barricades
around your chest so they
could never get to you
again;

Problem was, when they asked
to be given access to you,
you tore down the walls you’d built
with your bare hands

until your fingernails bled raw
and your heart burned hot with
the hope that your insides
would be safe this time.

You should know by now
not to let monsters
anywhere past
the moats you built
to keep them out.