I was taught to never make eye contact,

it is a challenge,

too direct,

disrespectful.

so I grew comfortable in expressing all of my soul in my eyes,

no one would ever see them,

no one would ever know,

i could contain secrets, I could contain myself.

Remain true, in places I felt pressured to lie.

to be anything but myself.

my soul hid there for years.

never making contact.

 

my soul has not yet found a home away from my eyes.

so they shift in public

make what is already an unbearable world

torturous.

 

so please-

stranger,

lover,

friend

-do not look into my eyes.

they are me.

they tell dangerous truths

of entrapment and longing for an abyss

a part of me that I will never want to share with any of you.

Featured image by Jeff Manning