I now see that I have lived a life

Head buried under covers

Using healing as my crutch

To guard against actually living.

My idea of faith an excuse

To always stand at the back of the line,

Watching as dreams get handed out like candy,

My lips too dry to taste their sweetness.

I chose a solitary symposium instead,

As some sort of self-righteous sacrifice

To get me closer to a light that already dwells within.

Upon reflection, as time strips away the flesh of me,

Bones exposed for all to seen

I am simply a woman, all too often, too shy to be seen.

So I stay where I’m known

Where I’m loved, where I’m already accepted.

But it is here, I stunt my growth

I live quietly with a heart desperate to make noise;

A mind on the cusp of exploding confetti.

But who would I be if I stoked

This inferno blazing inside of me?

There is only one way to find out, I realize

So I step to the front with shaking knees,

And introduce you to all of the silenced sides of me.

I am ready to be seen.