Shell Shock

He hides in his shell the teacher did tell,
Family shrugged-maturity crosses wisdom,
Smile scarred onto his lips, a turtle locked in death grips,
A tortoise on its back, shell buried in wet sand,
A trapped, caged, screaming band,
shell shock from hell

Tank not cocoon-weaponized not marooned,
Ammo vanished before nuptial battles,
What was a clash turned to slaughter,
As the chrysalis burned in fire

Heads above and down between; two,
Strikes to vulnerable twins brought the end to,
As quick as surely penetrating, shell rot spreading through

Mind above and only one there too,
Flip the animal onto a back tattooed with words,
Awestruck aren't you?
Desperate words unable to hold back the laughter crew

Turtle, tortoise, tank crawling through closed down
shells, cocoons, chrysalides cracking,
Sure words-they are meant to open,
Flower, butterfly, freedom,
Opened at the cost of a kingdom with castle moats of scar tissue,
But as the family said earlier:
no issue