Invisible Walls

A warm yet detached smile.
A tender yet cold touch.
So near and yet so far.
Distant
from the problem.
Just lending a sterile hand
to responsibilities so great.
Frustrations
of having to remain aloof.
Strangers become patients
remain strangers
draining you ~
of attention
and love
and emotion
until there is nothing
but a stone cold shell of a person
in a stiff uniform
mechanically dutiful.
Exigency of life
so fragile
sometimes
you wish you were dead.
Exhaustingly exhilarating.
Still coping with the demands
never quite losing touch
with reality.