Glorious Brave New World

It is long, but I hope you will persist in what is, for me, one of the most important poems I have ever written, in a personal sense.

There was a space within the shell,
where broken pieces lay.
Whilst shattered, still they made a noise,
my hurt was on display.
The space they occupied in me
was no place I could hide
since all the fractured fragments ruled
the vacuum from inside,
and banned the person I should be
from entering the door.
The broken shards I knew were there,
in chaos on the floor
were inaccessible to she
who needed them to set her free.
Though each of them was part of me,
I felt each one lived separately.
"Life" seemed to be a foreign word,
a concept out of reach,
when from the blue beyond, I met 
a young man born to teach.
I recognised a wisdom
in his softly spoken prose
and, for the first time in my life,
I listened, I suppose.
Of course, it helped that every word 
was spoken from his heart.
Amazing, too, this fact rang true:
I knew right from the start,
for until then, of passionate men
I'd turned a deafened ear,
refusing to believe their music
whispered in my ear.
This man took time to understand
where others were afraid.
He ousted every fragment, 
studied all its light and shade.
And while, through habit, I still hid
essential threads of clues,
he ploughed through my defences,
made me really wish to lose
one last battle for the sanctuary
of darkness, that had spread
like tendrilled weeds that thrived on seeds 
once planted by my dread.
As each piece of the puzzle
was unearthed and dusted clean,
I wondered at their harmlessness.
What menace had I seen?
My teacher held my hand and showed me
each and every one
before he lifted up my chin
and faced me to the sun.
"The rest, my love, is up to you,
I'll never leave your side,
but when you choose to spread your wings
and never more to hide,
the world will be in awe of all 
I've seen through loving eyes: 
the iridescent star of all
emerging butterflies.
And all that you have been before,
though special to my soul,
will pale into an ether trail
when you are standing whole."
He may have said much more than that;
it was enough for me
to understand I'd reached the place
I'd always wished to be:
beneath the glory of the sun,
no fear of anyone.
Without the impulse now, to flee,
I knew his work was done.
I smiled and took the final step,
alone and unafraid.
I never faltered for one moment, 
once the choice was made
to soar into the bright blue space, 
the colour of his eyes,
and make my presence felt by all,
without need for disguise 
I heard a trillion firecrackers
somewhere down below -
ignited by a lover? Maybe,
who could say or know?
If pride could light a trillion fuses,
there would be no doubt;
if love could make the heavens blaze
with one triumphant shout,
I'd know this was congratulations
from the man I love,
sent out to give me added strength
for soaring high above.
But there is still a certainty,
within the very heart of me,
that this unearthly symphony
proclaimed to me my destiny.
My time has come, I've taken charge,
my wings are now unfurled.
Dear Lover, hold my hand, let's meet
our glorious, brave new world.