Self taught lessons.

Drink them in as penance,
Push them away as nightmare,
Try to rearrange the pieces,
Reshape them to fit.

And after you have abused them,
After your memories are bruised,
And the images are battered,
And the echoes are confused,
Are you ready to accept them
As the part of you they are,

If the pieces of the puzzle,
Still fit that picture they once were.