I can feel so vulnerable when

nothing is safe to show.

Do I dare emerge from a shell,

protective and fragile?

I can still be a child whom

has grown up the whole while.

You will never know the tears

hidden behind my smile.

And they burn like they are

too real to me, coloring my

cheeks red.

Will you ever know this heart of

a poet who wanted nothing but

to love and trust someone,

laying open and exposed before

you? You're not the only one

with something valuable to lose.

Men never risk losing part of

their selves in a relationship.

That only a woman can happen

to.

I remember the lack of confidence

you had in me.

How you tried to keep me hidden

away until no one including yourself

could know me.

A woman is enough of a mystery in

the world anyway.

I didn't need to be put in the shade.

You didn't have to cover my face.

I was never disfigured or deformed.

There was no reason for you to be

ashamed.

I had to pretend with you.

I was pretending to want

what you wanted, like what

you liked , believe completely

 what you believed . My acting

was so good for a moment I lost

who I was, who I started out to

be. I bet nobody has ever demanded

of you to leave part of your heart

behind. You did not lose sight of

your identity to be with me. So,

why should I?

All this is what you required of

me. All of this you made me

sacrifice for a relationship

which turned into an illusion.

Yet for me you sacrificed

nothing.

You didn't want me to be noticed.

But , people will look when they see

something they like, they're

attracted to. I know it's an old

line but I really was made to

stand out not step aside.

How could I tell you then

who and what I am is

all right, and to let me

shine, to be the human

being god made me to

be? It's his design not

yours. So how could you

ever know me?