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