Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash
Quills
The hedgehog
craves closeness of warmth
and comfort
but it can’t
risk hurting those they care for
or wounding themselves
Dismissive
nature or nurture
combining
avoiding
emotions flatlined and taut
growing defective
Reflective
not seeking the gaze
transparent
apparent
apparitions, illusions
flowing refractions
Subtraction
by adding my quills
I will wound
inaction
pricking with lethal absence
living detachment
Reaction
defies all reason
yes I care
but won’t share
reason, nature can’t undo
an inert hedgehog.
** *
Written for dVerse MTB: Phantom Form — Shadorma, hosted by Gospel Isosceles. Poets have contributed to this prompt here.
*EDITED: to fix the erroneous syllable count. It’s kinda cool what two extra syllables per stanza can do to add a wee bit of spice.
Hephaestus’ Waste & Cosmic Rubble 
Good to see you at dVerse, Barry. Your poem stung as I thought of a parent who did not/would not show up to complete the duties of child-rearing, the duties of love, really. “pricking with lethal absence” is a most powerful line and with sharp perspicacity allows the reader to feel the pain of absence. Thank you for contributing this Shadorma.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Would not, could not, and in some cases, should not. It’s interesting to me how some damage inherited by children can be payed forward to the next generation once they become parents… often in ways we never expect, as in when our “love languages” become informed by what was missing from our own upbringings.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
LikeLike
A telling mataphor.
LikeLike
Oops, I did mean metaphor – though it’s almost like an accidental play on “matador”, which might be appropriate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
lol. It’s funny you mention that. A silly nickname given to me by friends in a hip-hop chatroom a long time ago was “El Matador De Metaphor”.
Guess I’m never escaping that one. It’s cool though. I kinda dig it.
LikeLike
Your words always powerful and keenly felt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. 🙂
LikeLike
I wonder if we are to much of hedgehogs all of us… the fear can be sharp and fearful
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree… we must all endure the fear of hurting and of being hurt by our need for connection… some more than others, I suppose.
LikeLike
Ooh! I feel those quills. Love all the internal rhyming, and the flow of this poem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
LikeLike
I like how you described the “living detachment” of the porcupine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perceptive and so true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLike