It is unnerving

to be seen
when you’ve fought so hard
to convince
of another identity.

One far less honest,
encumbered by fear,
prepared for abandonment.

One that did
whatever it took
not to be questioned,
or challenged.

One whose walls were
so immediate
I hardly participated
in the building.

But there you were
with your questions
and challenges—your
patience.

Your knowing.
What do you see?
Perhaps you could tell
me because I have been hidden
so masterfully from myself
that the only knowing
I have comes
from my trusting in you.

Some lose themselves in love,
I found myself in your offering of it.
Humbled by acceptance,
embraced by your desire
not to love me,
but for me to.

You reflected my fears
and offered glimpses of truth
each time we danced between forever
and not.
Each time you touched me just
lightly enough to make known you were here.

Each time you didn’t touch me at all—
in your spaciousness I was safe to be.
To collect and remember,
choose again, and always love.

.

Author: Tiffany Anderson

Editor: Yoli Ramazzina

Photo: Flickr/Guian Bolisay