Where did those come from?
 When did they form?
 Why didn't I notice,
 What was happening, around me?

 I remember the summer sun,
 Warm, comforting, full of life.
 I remember laughing as a child,
 Under the sun, running free.

 I remember a smile
 That was whole and true,
 Filled with joy, and wonder
 My heart shown through.

 I remember a laugh,
 Bright and full of cheer,
 Unrestrained, unfettered,
 Free of fear.

 I remember the past,
 I remember the love,
 I remember the joy,
 But I can't find them now.

 Somewhere, somehow, I lost them,
 In their place are shields and wards,
 That keep others from nearing,
 And keep me, from touching.

 I don't know how this happened.
 I can't remember my last touch,
 I can't find the laugh,
 And I've lost the sunshine.

 I see others, and they see me,
 I reach out, and hit the wall.
 Yet that is when it happens,
 The touch, changes me.

 The cry for help,
 Becomes words of jest.
 The plea for release,
 Becomes meaningless platitudes.

 The touch freezes me,
 Leaving only a shard,
 Of the whole, while the frozen,
 Can only watch.

 On clipped wings, that long to fly,
 I stand on the cliff's edge.
 Unable to step away,
 Unwilling to step off.

 The part that's frozen cannot step back,
 Can't move away, it has not the strength,
 The easy path lies before,
 Off the precipice, on wings, that can't soar.

 Jason