Fragility

2 - Bottle.

You used to stare with wonder as a child,
At one of those flimsy plastic baby bottles 
That made milk 'disappear'.
Your eyes grew wide each time it came back,
Smiling and cheering,
Only to frown with curiosity as the liquid vanished again.

Now, you're a teenager
You stare as an empty water bottle topples over,
Admiring it.
The small drops of water flung from the insides of the bottle cap,
Landing with a silent crash at the other end,
You could see right through this one.
You knew by now that it hid in the lid,
But that wasn't all you saw through.

Now, your expressionless face focuses behind the bottle,
Into the blurry abyss of the outside world.
The wooden desk of your class went from slightly patterned to smooth,
And your eyes began to water, as though that same water from the bottle had suddenly escaped.
You stare through, not able to make sense of most of the objects through it,
Until your eyes have had enough and you pull away.
Staring dumbfounded at your classroom wall.

As an adult, your eyes soften as you think back to the times you'd glare 
With blurred sight through an empty bottle,
Forgiving yourself. 
Lovingly you accept that the world was unknown, it was vast and it scared you,
And as a teenager, a child, a baby, that was bound to happen.
The key was your determination
To understand your life,
But even now, as a wise old man, you don't get it.
'I'll be damned,' your future partner will say,
You hum as you turn to them.

'Well, dear heart, I do believe,'
They smile to you, full of warmth,
'I've found all the water you'd been looking for,
So long ago.'