Two, Afraid
I am
a dichotomy -
a prose writer
who struggles
who struggles
with honesty.
I push
and I pull
betwixt light
and dark –
and I pull
betwixt light
and dark –
tug of war
between spilling
and hiding
my heart.
between spilling
and hiding
my heart.
My affliction
is omission.
is omission.
I withhold.
Cannot relinquish
all the contents
of my
all the contents
of my
conflicted
soul.
So I mete them
like rations.
like rations.
Austere
with my passions.
with my passions.
Frugal
with expression
with expression
as with ink.
Too concerned
with what
prospective readers
think.
with what
prospective readers
think.
‘Though
in the blink
of an eye,
in the blink
of an eye,
thoughts
I do not supply
might have saved
a tortured soul
from the brink
of a precipice…
I do not supply
might have saved
a tortured soul
from the brink
of a precipice…
calling them back
from the edge
by feeling
from the edge
by feeling
they are not alone,
but my selfishness
won’t let them
into my dome –
won’t let them
into my dome –
allowing them
to teeter
to teeter
because I’m too afraid
to allow any one
reader
to allow any one
reader
to see
everything
that
I am…
a dichotomy –
a prose writer
who struggles
who struggles
with honesty.
I withhold.
- HymnAgen
