I didn’t realize 

at your center

was a castle

half in ruins — 

where moss stretches across 

splintered pillars 

and beneath them,

lay the final resting place

of the few fallen —

 

and yet

 

the castle’s other half

towers above

its brother’s failures

digging its roots

deep within the earth

with muscles pulsing 

for a better future

 

Sometimes I wonder

which side of the castle

you prefer to reside.