All of us are born without armor,
but somehow, somewhere
along the line,
we begin to suspect life,
and thus other people,
are unsafe.
Instead of remaining open
to what we can discover
in a situation,
we back further into ourselves
until we no longer trust
what we perceive of another
well enough to respond
authentically
or appropriately.
Instead, almost robotically,
our inner hard drive scans memory
for the loop that has been reinforced
time and again
over a period of years.
The trouble is,
patterns alone
are not human beings.
Like waves in winter surf,
no two are alike.
There is a danger
of becoming confused
about who we are,
or denying ourselves
the freedom to change.
Nor is anyone else static,
unchanged over time.
We do others a disservice
by holding them in a form
they have likely outgrown.
Much more like rainbows
than robots,
we run the risk of losing
our full spectrum of colors.