I carry this armor, thick as any brick wall, stronger than steel.
Built upon the pain slashed into my heart from my youth.

Meant to protect me from the cruelty life has shown me,
But here I stand before this man, holding his arms out, offering a new shield….

My heart screams to go to him but my fears keep me frozen in time.

My heart identifies him as something completely foreign to me, maybe home?
I turn to run but something keeps me in place,
I’ve grown to see people as threats but this one soul doesn’t seem to have any intentions of harming me, yet that’s what thought before...

Fascinated by the mysteries of life, I ventured far and wide seeking for something...
But I was foolish, I soon learned that the world was made up of evils of a young girl's nightmares.

Then he came along,
All smiles and love. I wondered how that could be, how could he be so joyful in such a place.

But as I soon saw not all armor is made to scare people away, some are built to show others that sometimes life is hard but we need to pick ourselves up off the sidewalk and show the world that no matter how many punches it throws our way, bruises heal and scars fade,
the pain goes away.