I see you,

behind your veil of sadness
behind your hair
behind that wall
erected all those years ago
to protect the world from your feelings.

How’s that working for you now?
Does staying small and hiding
meet your needs?

Do you shrink at the slightest opportunity
to be a real person
with real feelings,
to be authentic in the face
of great sorrow
and great joy?

Do you let the world pass by
peeking safely through
the inevitable cracks
formed through years of chipping away
but never fully through
your fortress of invisibility?

Do your fears that mask the sadness
allow you to follow your dreams,
or do they keep you tied up,
wondering if things will ever change
if you always stay the same,
until one day someone says
without fear or hesitation,
with love in their eyes,
I See You.

I see the beauty
you think you hide,
I see the depth of your sadness,
that great well of your collective tears
bottled for generations,
I see your joys in the lines of your face
carved from peering through the cracks.

Be free. Take my hand and together
we will tear down your wall
piece by piece,
day by day,
until all the world sees
is You.

~

Author: Ashley Barnes

Editor: Alli Sarazen

Photo: A Rod/Flickr