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take what you
and only your face in the mirror

know about you---
those parts of you

where shame, self-deprecation,
fear, rumination, and regret reside.

imagine them, all inching along
as one synchronous black

and neon yellow stripped caterpillar
in the palm of your hand.

     why do you hold it so gently?
     why do you hold it at all?

close your eyes,
and cover the caterpillar in the darkness

of time, grace, forgiveness,
and unconditional self amor.

take what you
and only your face in the mirror

know about you...
and release that butterfly into the air;

liberate yourself from those things
that were never meant to stay
but were always destined for flight---

destined to be let go.

:::

at a rowdy Irish bar, 

adults raise their voices
so they can be heard over other adult voices.

at an adventurous playground,

children raise their voices
not to supersede their friends' voices,

but to break the sound barrier
on the muzzle of life.

:::

do You risk asking me

about the little things?

---about the things

You would see every day?

---about the things

You know piece me together?

are You hoping to find more

about me You do not like?

---a link in the chain of who i am

that could never be of Yours?

---a sacrifice that would be too deep

to climb out from?

---an unbeaten path that would

take You away from You?

do You risk finding disjointed links

and loving me anyway?

   this love is best kept safely,

   but felt most intensely as a risk.