I Bare Myself...

I am often naked…

I bare myself with expression,

My words, when shared,

Can leave me exposed

Vulnerable and raw,

To peery judgments, minion opinions,

And editing trolls,

And it is painful...

*

I Bare Myself

I am often naked…

I bare myself with expression,

My words, when shared,

Can leave me exposed

Vulnerable and raw

To peery judgments, minion opinions,

And editing trolls,

And it is painful...

But I cannot stop doing what I do,

I cannot stop writing,

Sharing thoughts about life,

About love, about angst,

About tragedy and loss,

For it is in my creative times of inspiration

That I unearth and share

The most private and sacred essences of me.

I write because it is my bliss,

I share because sometimes I am celebrating,

Or grateful and giving thanks,

I might share because I want to help others,

Teach others, comfort others,

Support and care for others

And yet…

I am fully exposed when I do.

And often I write because I have something to express

Something to purge from my soul

Something that is wretched and painful

That haunts me,

To cope with someone or something that drowns me with sadness

Writing my words is like finding precious air

Capturing a grateful breath

When I am so terribly desperate to breathe.

When I write…

I am vulnerable

To a sometimes judgmental and hurtful world,

I am raw in my words

In the birth of my poems or stories

The innocent written things

That blessedly come to me

So I may love, nurture and care for them.

And like growing children,

I set them free at some point out into the world,

To try and let them make it on their own...

Sometimes, they stand tall,

But sometimes they stumble and fall

But I still love them

Regardless of the trolls who persecute or judge

Like I have failed as a parent.

They do not understand

That I do not need their permission

I do not need their direction,

Nor their opinions

I stand in my words always

I stand for my words always

For they are a part of me

The raw and exposed and fully naked part of me…

By Lise Parton

* photo by alysha rosly on unsplash