I Am

I am a poem.
A stark reminder of our time;
A note found by a teacher;
A message in a bottle.
You can bruise me but I won't hurt,
Because I am made of air, you see.
I shatter in pieces when I am touched,
I vanish,
Until you'll see me again --
When the next pandemic hits --
When that heart breaks --
Or the bombs drop --
On those innocent bystanders --
On those mothers and children.
War and other human hobbies:
The stark reminder of our time,
Of ANY time.

I am a poem:
I can be caged up,
Or swallowed whole,
I can drown in a puddle,
Get crumpled and torn,
I can be broken,
again and again and again,
But none of that matters,
Because I am a poem, you see. 
I am a poem --
Always melancholic,
longing to be free. 
I am a poem --
And you shall not name me
I am a poem  --
A stark reminder of the knowledge tree.

And what are YOU, human? 
What are you, the unnamed poet over there -- writing me?