Tender Times Two

There are two of them,

two headstrong bulls

raging around that china shop,

leaving lots of pieces, fragments

in their wakes. Headstrong,

did I say headstrong? As calves

they took us on wild rides and

never stopped, not once, we

sort of held on to their ears

as we bucked and bumped

through those years.

Strong-willed, did I mention

strong-willed? Their way or

the highway. Rein ‘em in

when you’re left standing

with broken reins? But I

didn’t say tenderhearted, did I,

and I should have said that,

two raging bulls with hearts

bruise-able and hurt-able

and tender-able. And how do I

know that, you say? Because

I know how to read a mirror.

For Travis and Andrew

This poem is submitted to the Warrior Poet Circle hosted by Jason Stasyszen at Connecting to Impact. To see more poems submitted for the prompt “tenderhearted,” please visit Jason’s site.