Callused

Hard, stubborn callous;
How you cover the tender spots.
With your condemned skin.

How you need to be soaked;
How you need to be scraped away,
Diligently,
.............every day.

Or you become like snow the day after -
Hard packed and unbudgeable,
To all but the sharpest blade.

Yet the stubborn snow disappears,
With a soft stroke of encouragement,
When attended to swiftly.