Shields And Shirts Poem by Old Teenage Poems

It was never our clothing that
shielded us
- a tailored suit is as penetrable to the eye
as a worn out t-shirt -
but the attitudes we kept up
- towards parents and old friends -
the emotional shields we carried
- held up on first dates and gold weddings -

And so
- in the end -
we began to hate each other
- for the cold gazes and forced gestures -
and ourselves
- for never stepping out of our armoured safety zone -
and found ourselves, alone
- without even ourselves to talk to -