Shelled

A man once told me, not to strife,
Show no emotion, show no life,
Because when you do: surely fear,
It makes the problem more severe.

Deep away in the shell, I hid,
I shut my eyes and closed the lid,
For only when the light was gone,
Were my weaknesses all withdrawn.

Deeper still in the shell I stood,
Hidden away, for my own good,
The problems I refused to see,
No longer stood in front of me.

I was blind in my little shell,
So much so, when I ran I fell,
Terror struck me, with every stride
I ran away, trying to hide

She stopped me then and held me back,
My shell was weak, I heard a crack,
In her arms, I watched as it burned,
My head would spin, my stomach churned

She held me up, looked in my eye,
"Please don't fret, I'll keep you dry",
Her touch soft, when I was beside,
And yet, she didn't have to hide.

A broken shell means no need to fight
It showed me that I could find the light