You are so very fragile that I feel forced

to suffocate you in bubblewrap and enclose you

in a cardboard box (this side up) and send

you (my poetry) through UPS, addressed to me.



Your small but keen insights make my calloused existence

softer, somehow less threatening; cold days in spring, when 

the sun is out but the air still nips is what you remind me of.

you don't even have to say anything, just the tip 

of your hat or the wisp of a smile in your eyes 

as you briskly step down the sidewalk

makes me feel secure.



And before you go home to a dark, empty apartment,

I want to kiss you goodbye, stop the tears in your eyes,

from the holes in your life that you've hardly

patched over.



And last night, between cooking dinner and calling a friend,

I prayed that your marshmallow skeleton

would never melt away to the harsh fires of the world..