My veneer is not so thin
That it cannot withstand
Slights, insults, rebuffs
All of which do not deny me.
But my facade needs work.
It is not emotion-proof
Though braced for buffeting.
It is the becalmed time that jolts
When the patina is not seen
That the structure shakes.
My skin and body and spirit
Are my changing whole
Insufferably inseparable
Yet always an insufficient self.