To J.E.A

Poems should have metaphors
And similes as well
The one I've chosen for you
Is simply called a shell.

It's a rather pretty metaphor
You'll find beside the sea.
You can pick one up when you walk along,
It's absolutely free.

A shell is like a body
It can be like a star
You can have it small, as well as large
It could even be a car.

It surrounds you and protects you
Though it's always in your head
Until a stupid driver
Bumps into you instead,

Then it's real and physical
It hurts and causes pain
And there's always a wretched argument
About who is to blame.

And when the shells get broken
Or ever so slightly cracked
The suns fall out of their heavens
And the rivers all run back

For time, they say is a constant,
It started out as a shell
And by means of a great explosion
Created heaven and hell.

Newton discovered motion
And the laws that made us tick.
We discovered the ozone was holey
And also what makes us sick.

Shells come in many colours
Yellow, red or black;
Some are completely invisible
And very hard to track.

So keep your shells around you
Be they car, or skin or star
As well as the social barriers
That tell you who you are.

For words themselves are shell-like
Each plays a vital part,
Smash, crack or destroy them
You'll break a meaning's heart.