I have a box, quite hidden

Full of airy, gauzy things –

Shameless, happy smiling;

Angel-feather wings.

The box itself is metal,

A strong, unyielding steel.

It’s made to hide and capture,

To guard, not to reveal.

It sits inside a fortress

Built from chiselled stone.

The better to protect it,

The fortress stands alone.

I’m right to guard it fiercely;

These men who say they’re mine

Come waving their own banners,

And attack me in a line.

Their burnished, copper armour

Is brighter than the sun.

Their heavy, clanking footsteps

Turn robotic as they run.

But the stone is strong and lasting –

I fortify it more.

Against each clumsy sword-thrust,

I barricade each door.

But here you come, unheralded

No weapon in your hand;

Distracting with your missiles –

Invisible, you land.

I have no chance to block you

As you scale the slopes alone.

Your bare feet pad in silence,

Your standard is my own.

Now, at last, I see you

As you creep into this room –

And kneel before the steel-work,

All pale within the gloom.

You seem less man than boy-child

And girlish is your hair

As you kneel before the metal –

Caress it here and there.

I laugh to hide my horror –

Then anger takes its place.

I knock you down and lash you –

But can’t quite harm your face.

You smile at me and thank me,

And still there on your knees,

You squeeze my hand all gently

And murmur out a “please.”

The steel lock falls down rattling;

The lid flies open wide

And open to your vision

Are all the things inside.

I did not know how various

The things were hidden in there.

It made me gasp to see them

All open at last to air.

And yet, what did not follow

Was any pain or fear –

And no humiliation

In letting you get near.

I watched you pull out glitter

And streamers, full choirs, light.

Surprised myself by smiling,

All softened at the sight.