she smells like
anxiety and black tea
her heart beats out a staccato rhythm
with whispers of all the people she loves
she cares so deeply
that it is easier to escape into books
and political despair
than it is to rise from
her own individual cage
to liberate mind and soul
becoming more solid and whole
meanwhile she is fragile
and cries so easily
carrying the kind of tension
than brings on illness
if she is not careful
she must be wrapped
in a warm blanket of love
to begin to treat her deficiencies
wrapped in love from head to toe
until from within she
begins to glow
