A delicate world
like a house of cards but not quite
because cards all belong in a deck
while what builds this house is
as patchwork as a quilt
a quilt of hopes and dreads that never
should have come together
a jumble of assorted dreams
gorgeous dreams on fine fabric
in brilliant shades that threaten to overwhelm
the drabber dreams of sturdier cloth
that might be cut out soon
leaving behind a vivid flash of nothing
to blow away in the constant wind
held together by delicate threads of much
abused trust and ever-fading friendship
that worm through holes in the fabric

A delicate world
with everything in its place
careful hands balancing rocks on one another
making sure they will stay steady before moving on
but forgetting to come back to check
if they will last once careful backs are turned
a jumbled handful of rocks and twigs
gathered from everywhere and nowhere
for no reason and now paired
by chance
by luck
by careful hands that have moved on
to place a new stone in the center place
adoring the beauty and shining sides
ignoring the sharp edge hidden within shine
and moving the old center place to a corner
hidden from the rest of the world

A delicate world
pieced together long ago
with fragments of speech and silence
a jumbled handful of memories with points
as sharp as knives but jammed in the dirt
so that they could not grow wings and attack
still they gleam brightly in their prisons
waiting
waiting
waiting for the chance to come out and fight
double-edged swords that hunger
for a coat of scarlet denied them long ago
when they jumped from the sheath
the sword sheath that was the tongue
but missed their target because
the wielder refused to strike the blow
still anyone might draw the shards again

A delicate world
fragile as a spider's web
and just as a seducing snare
a jumble of entrancements to trap the unwary
visitor and resident who does not know that the
threads are unraveling
stones are quivering
swords are struggling
against the bonds that should never have been placed
because the makers will be
the destroyers who will carefully
so carefully!
take the shards and embed them in their
fellow's hearts where they carefully
so carefully!
work away at the stones that support their
fellows where they carefully
so carefully!
remove the threads and wrap them around their
fellow's souls where they carefully
so carefully!
begin to piece together a new world from the
pieces of the old with new fellow who will one day
become destroyers where they were creators of
a delicate world