Splinters of sunshine piercing an armor

that has been gathered, fashioned and built over eons,

packed over time, steadfastly rooted in never-again and what-if’s.

Beams warming from the outside in,

melting and tearing apart all preconceived notions

of that label, that term that reeked of heartbreak and disappointments.

Peeled and splayed open now, warmth and rainbows intertwined

splattering prisms of light, colors and heat, colliding in a mad rush

of joy, bliss and elation, cascading over a once-charred heart that now beats in time to yours.