Shame

We used to dream of battles won
Now truths slump heavy on our tongues
What cowards here clutch at their hope,
Deny the pain and fail to cope

What fools we are to hide the shame
As if it shrinks the less it's named

No, it delights in secret fears
Licks at wounds and grins at tears
Trades out certainties for lies
Shades the goodness from our eyes

Then when it feels there's nothing left
It makes us think we must accept
The ways that we've deformed ourselves
To aching, broken, worthless shells.

We can't return the way we came
But slowly, and with time, we'll change
Kintsugi beings: fragile. Still,
Where there's a way, there is a will.