Emotional baggage
Was never meant for show and tell
Hold onto your secrets
Keep your truths to yourself
For no matter how
You try to explain the whole
There are only certain parts of you
Others really want to know.
Don’t open your suitcase
Something might fall out
They’ll perceive that one item
As if that’s all you’re about.
They’ll overlook the layers
Of all you’ve packed away
How carefully you’ve folded
What needed to remain safe.
Keep your suitcase locked
Keep it out of view
It’s already overflowing
Don’t add anything new.
Put it in your closet
Store it under your bed
All the unmentionables
You should never have said.
You must take it with
Wherever you go
Though what lies inside of it
Nobody needs to know.
Don’t pull out your diary
For others to read
They’ll skip too many pages
To ever truly see,
That every line written
Every word scratched out
Every horror you have suffered
Instilled in you the doubt
That anyone could look inside
And see more than your name
When you brush away the glitter
You see the damage still remains.
Keep it tethered to you
Safeguard it at all cost
It’s not meant for show & tell
You can’t recover what’s been lost.
