No. 2

No. 2  
 
Used every day to sharpen your mind  
Or dull it with doctrines and dogma  
Not meant to enlighten   
But merely contain   
 
Erase mistakes   
Brush them away lightly  
When done hurriedly  
Violently   
You leave little room for me to guide you further  
 
As you grow  
I am diminished   
You want to get to the point   
So I have to stay sharp but I'm dulled  
And gnawed by the same things you are  
The very same people  
The very same world  
 
You bite me   
Play paper hockey with me  
And I've been drumsticks and drum  
For you   
And at times your microphone   
 
When I'm close to you  
Closer than you'd dare let others  
I can see your eyes  
Hear the pains of your heart  
The anxiety of each breathe   
 
Grip me tighter   
If you must   
It's not my place to find out what you can't do  
I'll leave that for others, which they gladly will  
 
Show me what you can do   
Let me know my shredded husk  
And blackened core   
Have moved you from hidden shadows  
To raise heart and hand and simply say  
 
"Here!"  
 
I'm whittled away  
Stubbed  
Broken  
All accepted as my duty as No. 2  
As long as you can rise as the One  
 
Submitted in the Metaphors competition: Compare yourself to an inanimate object

For my SAM; Samantha Angelica Maricela