Knight in shining armour

I had spent far too long,
In the dark and the dust.
My castle years ago built,
From pain, hurt and distrust.

Each brick worth a million tears,
Each cobweb carefully spun,
By spiders made of heartache,
Who shy away from fun.

I sat there on my throne,
Days turned into years,
Emotions clouded over,
Replaced with constant fear.

I placed a thousand signs,
"Leave me all alone",
And everyone obeyed,
Not one came to my home.

Then one day while I slept,
A canon fired outside,
In disbelief I stood,
Afraid of what I would find.

Out of my castle window,
Stood a single man,
His smile, for once, genuine,
A large sign in his hand.

"I've come to rescue you",
It said, my body starts to shake.
Rescue me? He doesn’t know?
The stories are all fake.

I yell out down to him below,
"Rescue me from what?".
"Why from the monster, silly!
I'll destroy it with one swat."

Sadness boils inside me,
"But I'm the monster," I confess,
I feel I'm close to tears.
"I'm the one that did this"

His smile doesn’t falter.
"Well I know that, you fool,
I've come to rescue you I said, 
even if it’s from you".

I stare in shock down at the man,
"Impossible" I say.
He simply smiles and aims,
His canon once again.

The shots are fast and furious,
Bricks come crumbling down.
Spiders scurry far away,
Cobwebs twirling round.

Soon there’s nothing left,
My castle now in bits,
Not a brick left on a brick,
But somehow it all fits.

The man walks over to me,
He takes me by the hand,
"There’s no need to be all alone,
Now I'll help you to stand".

Never before had people tried,
To help me from my hole,
No one cared enough to see,
I didn’t want to be alone.

People left and I felt hurt,
So I built a fort to stop it.
Bricked up inside my own mind,
At the bottom of a bottomless pit.

But here comes this young man,
Who owes me nothing at all,
Who looks past my own worthlessness,
And promises the world.

He takes me by the hand,
Vows to never let go,
He leads me far from the ruins,
Of a structure built long ago.

He was right, he rescued me,
Not from dragons or beasts,
But rather from my own mind,
Which on my will to live did feast.

With simple blows of kindness,
He sent the shadows on their way.
He told me I was worth it,
And promised he would stay.

So with his hand in mine,
I'll throw away the bricks,
Of nasty memories and words,
Which in my mind do stick.

I'll cut them out with trembling hands,
But he'll steady them with his,
And lead me to a life so new,
One I've always wanted to live.