from the floorboards to the flies

centuries of service and taming
has softened those hard parts
and made them vulnerable

mutually beneficial exchange
you are sheltered, fed and watered
but take on loads greater than those before you

those that still run wild and free
face dangers of their own and stay hardened
softness is the price of stability

we pay it back with something solid to brace you
wrap your vulnerability in iron
and take it as a symbol of protection and luck
a wish that we can be soft and stable too