[Un]Guarded
Our dreams expose us for who we really are.
We spend our waking hours, spinning words that bely our truth,
Inhabiting a hundred different bodies,
But the one we’ve been given.
We dare not see the others
Just like us, with stories waiting to be
Seen. Heard. Spoken for.
We spend a lifetime beholding them as Strangers,
A lifetime, building Walls…
We dare not reach out and touch that fragile thread
Of our shared irrational fears, bandaged hearts, and hopes —
Despite it all.
Surely, our dreams are less confusing than
The reality we spin for ourselves.
In our dreams, our pain is more easily held.
We come undone
At a kind word, a connection that tells us
We are not alone,
And almost at once —
We become unguarded,
Honoring old wounds with scars
That whisper…
“You’ve made it this far”,
“You are stronger than you realize”,
“There are others, who in this very moment, feel just as you do”.
And so,
The pain we bear, becomes
A much lighter thing,
A sacred space,
Where we are seen as though, anew.
Don’t you think that we long for the same, simple things?
A hand that reaches out
And assures us,
That we needn’t hush our hopes,
We can sing them out loud,
Knowing that more will join us,
And discovering in that moment of abandon, that—
We are no longer dreaming,
But set awake,
Our eyes opened
To a new shore.
