How this shelter of mine have grown
Through the long hard years alone.
Each inch I make it slows me down;
A heavy load that pins me to the ground.
It is a place where I tuck away
When danger and uncertainty come my way.
In it I do not have to see
The world of changes surrounding me.
Beneath it all I am but
A trembling, naked little slug.
So unsure that I would flinch
From the caress of the passing wind.
Maybe one day I will dare
To discard this burden which I bear
For the freedom that beckons
For the tenderness, for love.