Bare and Exposed
by Surabhi Chaubey
(Hardoi, India)
Holding your hand
I'll stand in front of you;
Bare and exposed.
Scared and awake.
With my fears trying to reach you,
I won't say a word.
Yet
You'll hear desolate screams,
You'll hear fading voices,
You'll hear cries for help,
You'll hear my thoughts,
Loud, Intense and heavy thoughts.
You'll look in my eyes
And see the ocean of tears.
Each tear revealing a different tale,
Each tear evincing a different version.
Yet all of them being a part of me.
You'll squeeze my hand
And you'll feel vulnerability oozing out of me,
You'll feel my trembling soul,
You'll feel my fading warmth,
You'll feel my expectations of you running away;
wanting to take a step back,
To look past this broken soul.
But you feel someone holding you,
Someone holding onto you.
Telling you to not be afraid,
Telling you to stay,
Telling you that,
"I know i am broken.
I am sad.
I am fearful.
But this pain is not me,
It's just a part of me.
This darkness doesn't define me,
It tells you about just one of my chapters.
When you reach the next one,
you'll know that it was worth reading,
you'll know that you can't run now.
You don't want to look past now
Because You'll know that
despite being humbled by many,
my words still hold a lot of love.
Imperfect yet heartfelt.
You'll feel this love,
this warmth,
this compassion.
You'll feel that this messy soul might just be the one you need.
It's not just a single theme story.
My broken pieces might be scattered but
I still have all of them with me,
Jumbled yet together.
So
I ask you,
Will you help me find the new pieces that fit?"
***