Intimacy (Poetry)

I’ve held so very little back —
laid bare the shameless flesh of facts
I did not know that I could be so honest —
the years of covering up undone
the various coloured skins of self
peeled off and dropped with far more ease
than I could have ever possibly imagined.

Truth naked — blinking in the light
unused to freedom’s wide expanse
made curious by the way my shadow’s falling
words continue their unravelling
and the more the barriers come down
the more relief — gone giddy with the telling.

Thus I let my inmost secrets go
stripped their fragile-sounding layers as you listened
the sense of them dissolving like a field
of deep and frozen snow —
a sudden thaw persuaded into melting.

This cross-examination of
the soul so very intimate —
the candle is re-lit and in the window
you know me better now than those
I’ve only on the surface touched when sleeping
and afterwards they seldom talked
or mentioned things so personal — avoiding what
is delicate or awkward
and considered hard to deal with...

Too deep for many to explore — what’s hidden at the very core —
with the body aching fragile — tightly bound
and storing sadness with no one to hear
how we need a way of setting ourselves free —
some rescuer — a wise and subtle voice
to lead us from our prisons — spring wide the inner door
and give us back a vision of the world —
                                as though it’s Eden.