Emotions are hard
Hard to feel
Hard to share

It’s so much easier to offer a mirror
And let others
              See what they want to see
              Hear what they want to hear

Offering authenticity is complicated
                    Snarled
Full of light
              and dark
                       and confusion

Sometimes I don’t want to look
I don’t want to see
I don’t want to know

                   I don’t want to feel

But a shallow existence only works for so long
To grow, we must grow roots
To connect, we must reach out

Will you be worthy of my truth?
Will you face it with me?
Will you meet my vulnerability with your own?

I can only wish
And hope
And believe

That you will

Secrets can make you
Secrets can break you

Secrets shape us
Secrets divide us
Secrets drop a wall between us

Dividing families with no one the wiser
How can they not see this?
It’s right there

Between us

What if I tell?
What if they know?
What if they judge?

The scariest outcome would be
If nothing changes

And the wall of secrets wasn’t
The real divide

Between us