Mon âme a peur

I hide underneath my shroud of lies.

I hope the world won’t catch
A glimpse of me
Beneath this tattered hood of aspersion.

I’m bare.
I’m as naked and vulnerable
As the day
my bleeding cries
tore at the air
Upon my entrance into the world.
So naked.

I won’t tell if you promise not to look.

You stare.
I curl into a ball
And pull my raiment of doubt
A little further over my head.
It’s cold out there,
So cold.
How can you stand it?
I can’t.

I’m naked and cold,
My skin is tinged with blue.
I’m not an object fit
To touch.
You reach for me anyway.

Your fingers burn
Like liquid nitrogen.
I never asked for this.

You promised that you wouldn’t look.

Pretty Peach

The pretty pretty peach
In the wicker bowl
Looks mighty tasty.
I might want to eat it,
But it could be overripe.

The fuzzy skin glows in the warm
Afternoon sun.
It looks mighty inviting,
But it might be overripe.

What if I bite in and it bursts?
Would the juice dribble down my chin
And collect in a pool
On the table?
Or would it spurt into the sky?

How do you know if it’s rotten
On the inside?
The outside looks so golden
And perfect
And delicious.

Could there be a worm
Wrapped insidiously around its core?
What festering disease
Could be eating away at its insides?

My stomach implores me to eat it,
But I nonchalantly walk away
From the glowing orb.

I’ll take my chances some other time.

Cheap Trick

Don’t take me for a ride
That I didn’t pay for.
I left my money
On the coffee table
Before I stepped out at night,
My heels a-tap-tappin’
And my hips a ‘swingin’.

I’ll whistle a tune of deliverance,
Care to join?
It’s not so hard,
You’ll pick it up soon.

I’m a human too,
Just like you.
As vulnerable and sad
And angry and happy
As the guy
Behind me in the line
For our 6AM coffee.
A whole lot of nothing
Rolled into something.

I’ll whistle a tune of deliverance,
Want to join?
I see you got it now,
I’m always right, you know.

Don’t take me for a ride
That I didn’t pay for.
I’d much rather walk.

Thanks anyway.