Swollen

if only she knew that
with a heart that big
swollen, loving, inflated
it was only so long
somebody would come around
to show her just why it is
you don't wear it on your sleeve
all the boys are
hungry, thieving, conniving
when it's all too visible
& all out for the taking.

why pay when it is
free, trusting, innocent?
wouldn't know a wolf
if it bared its teeth
an inch away from its porcelain shell
scarred, ruptured, torn
broken.