First Edit: Parenthood

[homer1950]

Parenthood

My worry for you surrounds me like a body bag.

I struggle,
desperate to find an opening
or even a corner,
but the blackness refuses to relent.

Then I wonder,
is my worry actually a cloak
that protects me from a dark desire
to lie still and play dead?

Hello Richard, 

I like this very much, yet the ending seems to contradict the beginning. That is the body bag (your worry allows you to play dead, therefore it is not a cloak keeping you from playing dead). I very much think you should embrace the notion of the BB as a catalyst to escape coping. Perhaps your worry surrounds you like a BB and most people would struggle beneath its claustrophobic grip but you take comfort in its ablitlity to cloak you and make you emotionally invisible. Just some ramblings.