Sanctuary of Sand

Free Verse.

I lived in a stained-glass dome beautiful beyond what only open eyes may behold.

I knew its art well, but every day I saw new images hidden in the pieces we picked to ponder.

I could not see through the opaque panels, but the pictures showed me what I ought to know.

I was safe, and so too were those loved, for if we dwelt inside nothing from without would penetrate those walls.

Then once upon a time I wondered, and once I had, that wonder grew. And as I feared it continued to.

The Answer: what might it mean if I ever were to know?

I knew nothing could pierce from outside but what if a pebble were cast from within?

And then with the devastating force of a whisper, as all words that truly wound are so often uttered, it was shattered.

A softly spoken stone sailed straight and true, sending down cascading showers of shimmering shards, all I knew.

No one else seemed to notice. Crashing panes caused sharp cuts leaving still weeping scars.

My dust-stung eyes looked up expecting to see only the broken, instead, all I saw were stars.