“Remove the armour”,
A sentiment and command I ached to embrace,
But found the steel plates to remain firmly in place,
Dutifully protecting what I felt I simply couldn’t face,
The seeping soft and rawness of wounds that haven’t healed,
The fear of clearly seeing what has long been concealed,
“Remove the armour” I knew to be the way,
But for so long it’s been adamant to stay,
It created constructs of ‘knowing’, kept love at arm’s length,
Strived to achieve and demonstrate unshakable strength,
(Of course misunderstanding the true meaning of the word,)
Refusing to allow the truth of it to be heard.
Remove the armour – has been the call reverberating within,
And slowly, and reluctantly, I began to let its wisdom in,
Opening my heart was a battle between love and fear,
But the deserving winner quickly became clear,
A tsunami of emotion finally set free,
An inexplicable sensation of what it means to be,
An aliveness I’ve been craving,
A connection I thought was gone,|
An opportunity to hear my innermost song,
Thank you armour, I appreciate your role,
But the weight on my chest has been taking its toll,
And I realise now, there’s truly nothing to protect,
All I really need is to allow myself to connect,
All I really need is to embody what I know,
To trust my capacity to heal and to hold,
To release the stories, the fears and the need,
To try and do anything but let myself be.

A poem by Yvonne Doherty
@daretolivecoaching

Image Credits: Unsplash – Priscilla Du Preez / Daniel Burka

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