The couple were happy, said the wedding pictures
in every corner of the house;
just a married couple too, said the still glittering wedding dress and suit
displayed in their shared bedroom; and Christian people,
said the crosses around the new house
with new furniture, the smell of pureness in the air;
but not people for organizing, said the house
packed with equipment everywhere.

The wife loved to cook, said the kitchen equipment
crowded into the large fancy kitchen
covered with bright happy colors in every corner.
They were expecting a baby, said the chew toys
and baby bottles sprawled around the house.
It was a boy, said the baby’s blue bedroom walls
and the crib with the name Caden engraved in it.
They were going to be a family, said the heartwarming card in the crib.

Something went wrong, said the gathering dust
in the abandoned house. The divorce documents
said the man left; the mirrors in the house
said the woman walked out of the door with tears in her eyes.
And the baby? His engraved name was cracked,
like a broken heart that refuses to mend.
Their love was lost, said the ripped wedding pictures,
separating the lost couple from each other. Something went wrong, they said.

All I see are lies
When I look into your eyes.

All I see is shame
When I look into your frame.

I was, of what I said, certain,
Until you suddenly became a new person.

Now I see you differently.
You’ve changed entirely.

Your eyes are honest,
Full of promise.

Your frame is respected,
No longer neglected.

Have I been wrong,
About you, all along?
Is what I see
Has always been me?

Do I own the eyes
That are full of lies?

Am I the frame
That’s full of shame?

Maybe I am.
Maybe I’m just a pathetic sham.

I wished it wasn’t true,
So I tried to see it in you.
“To do so, there’s no possible way,”
I say.

Now, I accept myself,
Because I am not someone else.

I am who I am.
I am not, anymore, a pathetic sham.