Author's Note: This is a deeply personal poem to me that I've written for a friend who's basically gone and screwed himself up. I've put it online because I've got no other way to contact him. I've known this kid since he was nine, and I've always been a little protective of him. Boy, if you're reading this, I don't care if you hate me, ring me the hell up once in a while so I at least know you're alive.

Glass Child
(Dedicated to Liam)

Dear Child,
Whose glass form
I cradled in my palms
I knew you would one day
Slip from my hands
And descend from peace
To the cold black ground below
I could see the chips and cracks
In your otherwise pure form
I knew I couldn't hold on
And keep you safe forever
I knew I would one day
See you slip and fall
And shatter into a thousand pieces
Before my eyes
And at my feet
Your warmth is now gone
You are as cold as the ground
Shards of you are lost
And you're too broken to put back together
You're now as unrecognizable
As any fact in the crowd
Yet, broken as you have become
The tragedy that is you
Destroys me too
Now others sweep you up
And carry you away
And I may never see you
Far from me
Close in memory
But dearest child,
The day you decide
To pick up your shattered body
To try to mend the wreck
I will help you heal
You only need to ask.