The Heart Of The Man Poem by Joshua Hillard

I tend to my heart,
Bandage the wounds to be healed,
Patch the cracks back together,
Lock away memories; permanently sealed,

I build a fortress around it,
Gathering stones, mortared bricks,
Every seam layered in cement,
An infrastructure so strong; only one that sticks,

I send an army to watch,
Recruiting all my past memories,
Using pain as a weapon,
This I thought was the remedy,

I prepare for my battle,
Soldiers begin to draw their weapon,
Stand their ground to defend this wall,
Use my past to present their weapon,

I declare a new war,
Troops rush in, carry as many out,
Begin each fight with the time they spent,
Casualties arise; my suspicion is doubt,

I raise my flag, high to the clouds,
Vigorous screams pierce the field,
Shots are fired; names are called,
Back to the wall, my human shield,

I call my troops into the center,
We have taken too much damage,
Chunks of cement begin to break,
Here these memories continue standing,

We scream no loss, to the last man standing,
The shield is down, but here I am,
Burned by the pain, another war lost,
For I am a martyr, the heart is the man.