Fragile

I’m dancing atop the rolling world
like running on a blue-green barrel
but it really wouldn’t take much
for an asteroid to wind me
toss me down in the dirt where I belong
scratch the stardust out my eyes
and put me in my place.
I’m a brightly gift-wrapped box
full of shattered china
empty batteries wrongly wired
intricate but broken complications.
Does it warrant a label
or a ‘FRAGILE’ sticker
if it seems perfectly fine
and no-one looks inside?
My path is littered with ideals
each promising contentment
but once I get close to them
they no longer appeal.
They’ve lost their golden glow
Visions past their sell-by date
Cheap and flimsy, close-up.
Happiness is precarious
A tightrope balancing act.
Happiness is dangerous
Deliberate amnesia
A temporary antidote
to how lethal life can be.