How brave must one be
To open up
And to really see

The maladies
And fallacies
And accept them all
With almost joyous abandon

As being old friends
Never met... and yet
We know them as intimately
As we know
The pains that we carry
Along the pathways of our lives

Some will take the easy way
Putting the pains out on open display
Carried aloft like a victory flag

While others keep it hidden
Wrapped in ***** rags
Buried deep in the sand
As if then...
... It loses its power to control

Oh! but it does
As it always will
For no one can long deny
No matter the depth
To which they will try

So as a wordsmith artist
Painting what it is that we find
Relishing any stimulation or tribulation
In the deep recesses of the mind

Where we always keep going
Willingly knowing
... that we walk alone

Yet... We persevere
  Willingly going   places... where ...
....others simply fear

There we will root around
The dusty dark corners
Of those spirit laden rooms
We find down those long haunted hallways
With beseeching heart reaching
Echoes of pasts... lost or seeking            .....redemption

We are the bravest people ever known  yet we are overlooked
Because...
We still pursue
Still proceed
Opening those doors
Of  long past deeds

Brave... Oh yes
We must be -  we have to be
We always go alone!