Accretion

Accretion.

He wades

absentmindedly

across the current

of life,

unconsciously gathering

a second skin

of barnacular friends

and associates,

a protective coating

for a future conflict

he’ll stumble into

a decade later.

It won’t be enough,

that skin

on its own,

in spite of all the love

and care,

but he will survive,

somehow,

and how that might happen,

when it happens,

we will explore

in depth

this semester.