we wore bascinets at the round table

there is something to be said about children

we were more resilient better at shoving it all down

playing pretend

with our foam swords

fighting dragons

and saving damsels

(that were really us

but we wouldn't see it until we were older

when life ripped off our bascinets)

and we thought we knew

the knights fighting alongside us

and then a decade later

at the midnight hour

we were at the round table

sharing tales of glory

until one of us was brave enough

to take off our helmet

to show what's underneath

ugly battle scars

and a far away look

(if you dived deep enough

you would find us as children

and finally realized

that we were all drowning

underneath our sliver armor)