I am pain, sheltered in porcelain

I am hard and I am delicate.

I am lost but I have survived.

Haunted by the shadows of my own thoughts, I have fled myself

I have been asked to smile, to wear my cracks with pride.

Crack open a smile, lest the world laughs at you

A small crack lest you crumble from within

So I smile.

I even laugh

Along with the rest of the world.

As I pick up pieces of my shattered porcelain

Porcelain Soul first appeared as a verse in a collaborative poem titled Indigo Child (https://lostparchment.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/indigo-child/ )