Resistance

I remember when you were a child
When you were learning to see
Before you learned not to see
When you were learning to listen
Before you learned not to listen

I remember how you slept
Arms outstretched because the world exhausted you
Arms outstretched because you loved the world so much

I remember when you were a child
Before you learned the need for armour
When nakedness was its own defence

I remember how you burst alive each morning
With uncertain movement and uncertain talk
With more to say or do than one day could contain

I remember when you were a child
And you ran towards life fearless and unthinking
With nothing to hide
With nothing to be hiding from

Somewhere you learned the value of fear
And the power of walls to sustain it.
Not every wall is concrete or stone:
Some are as thin as kevlar or silk.

Reach across your wall, my child.
Its strength's not in what it resists or withstands
But in the dread you hold inside it.