Your Haven. Your Protection Poem by Gabriella Mantone

Everyone has that boundary. That small line drawn in the sand. That protective shell that keeps us in the confines of who we are, and allows us to be no one else. Everyone has one. Some are larger then others, some are tiny. And some, some are invisible, and even the person who lives inside of this bubble, cant see it. I guess it all starts from how were raised as a child. As an infant, these walls are built strong and wide, ready to keep anything and everything from harming us. Not many can hurt a baby. And the people who do....well they just dug themselves so far in the dirt, they could actually make it under and through that wall.That protection. But as we get older, these walls start to break, they start to crumble. New experiences, new places, new people, new everything, and our small, safe, surroundings begin to enlarge, and we see a bigger picture. This line, this golden haven that wraps itself around our bodies, it knows just how far we can go, and when the leash gets shorter, it pulls us back. But you see this protection of ours. It can only go so far. Everything can break, everything can snap, fall, crumble into pieces. Even that boundary. Because that boundary it has your back, but thats it really. Your mind, heart, soul, well thats your own. Thats the part of you that you can either let others control, or let you control. And when you allow yourself to take over, you can always remember that line, that haven, that boundary is there to help you. But once you put you into someone else’s hands...well that shell will crack, cause it cant take two in. Only one. Only you. So yes, it helps you along, but once you step past that mark, once you pop that bubble, once you tread over that boundary, well only life can lead you on. People can lead you to some serious mistakes, people can carry you to horrible places, people can twist and fuss, and transform the person that shell allowed you to be. People are judge mental, this haven accepts, people are rude, this haven never speaks, people hate, this haven loves, people don’t know you are, they only know the person you show them, but this haven, it knows exactly who you are, cause the only person you can be in the confines of that line, is you. But people can do a lot of damage. Once your gone for to long, the haven gets smaller, and smaller, till its barely nothing. And when you come back crying, and you try to fit yourself into this tiny hole, well sometimes you just cant fit. Because people change you. And if you let them change you enough, you become that change. And when you try to get inside this haven again, it wont work. Cause it doesn’t see you, it doesn’t know you for you, and therefore it cant protect you. The only person they can protect is the person they know. And once your someone else, well your on your own. Some people might be wondering what exactly is this line, this shell, this boundary...this haven. Honestly some of you are wondering what the heck I’m talking about. Is it God? Is it your Guardian Angel, is it your parents? Your conscience? Maybe parts of it. But those parts only built up what this haven is. Because the only thing that can protect you, that can know you beyond anyone else’s knowledge, that knows just what you need to be who you are. Well that person is you. You are your own haven. Your protection. Your own boundary. So don’t let people change who you are, don’t listen their lies, don’t feel their hate, cause once you do, its a hard thing to go back. Its hard to sit in your skin and feel awkward and fake. Its hard to go up to people, and not know how to be. Its hard to do anything as you, when you don’t know who you are. You don’t want to be out there on your own, so don’t forget. Cause theres only one person that barrier can fit. And that person is you.