Poems on Pablo Neruda by Top Critiquers

We are not naturally afraid of darkness;
we gestate within it, our eyes unclear  
thriving in gelatinous sockets of growth—  
it is birth that dilates pupils to fear.  

Abuse, its steel toe boot cracking the teeth  
of our solar plexus in times of innocence;  
adolescence demands our participation—  
microscopically studies each breath.  
 
Breaking the spine of nonconformity  
fear wills one into a submissive participant;  
dominant peers lord over the weak  
and life is not lived, but tolerated.  
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