Labels

Alone I walk
Though alone is not how I feel
No time for idle talk
It’s time to bind my steel.

Alone I stand
For all about me seems unreal
Only I define this man
I am his substance, I am his zeal.

Labeled I might be
By those to me unknown
Those who’ve cradled me can see
How far I’ve come from my own home.

Labels they may apply
To hold me back, restrict my zones
Though these labels will all die
Upon my back, as I crack, their abstract brittle bones.