Splintering Selves {poetry}

Maybe I'll just never tell you.

I'll let these feelings settle

somewhere below the surface,

somewhere someone would have to look

to see and know what they have seen. 

But broken parts have a way of splintering

and slicing through the surface 

so others start to know,

or at least they know the consequence

but not so much the brokenness

and the reason why we get like this.

So maybe words should be said

and scars shown to someone

whose heart will shatter with ours

simply because our souls 

aren't strong enough to bear

the crippling weight of all our sorrow.

And maybe it isn't even ours

-- we seem to borrow sadness

from every single soul we see

then wonder why hearts ache

and why we bleed

somewhere below the surface.

So I'll show my scars

if you'll let me see your soul,

if you point to where it hurts

and confess why there are holes.

Just please don't hide your feelings.

Don't let them settle below the surface.