Authenticity is required for real connection...take down the mask.

White flags, the illusion of surrender,
Waving to show no hope of victory.
Giving in, head and heart bowed in defeat,
The future dark, shrouded in the unknown.

But last night we talked and shared,
Opening tentatively to let each other see inside
Behind the outer mask that guards us from the world,
Keeping us safe, but also alone and separate.

“Red flags,” you said, “I used to look for red flags.
Something wrong, a reason to reject and move away;
But now, I search for white flags,
A reason to move closer.”

So remove that false mask, dare to be vulnerable and
Courageously step out on to the stage for all to see,
For only as we surrender to the possibility of intimacy
Can the journey toward love begin.