FRAGILE, by Jon Zens

FRAGILE

mark
i always assumed
you were strong
impregnable
thinking you stood like granite
in the swirling storms
then
you told me on the phone
In 1985
that you were crushed
doubting
hurting
dismayed
it took me a few days to really
believe that
you were
fragile too
but as time elapsed
i began to see
that
my wife
and daughters
and son are
fragile
like vases that can
slip off the shelf
and shatter
we’re all like
flowers
whose delicate petals
can be torn off
with autumn winds
we all need
care
when the winds of life come
we need our
petals supported by other
fragile flowers
especially the One who
had His petals
knocked off
for us

— jz march 1988