DO NOT IMAGINE

do not imagine you know me --
the hot heart, the yearning and the pain --
so much is hidden away from plain sight.

pleasant by determined will, forgiving by discipline,
shards and spikes of uglier traits kept away from view,
my surface is not all there is, as you now hear.

i would be as honest as the sun is bright,
as plain-speaking as the sky is blue,
but i play a game of smooth surfaces, out of need.

do not imagine that you know me,
but trust that, despite the spikes and the shards,
i care for you with all my hot heart.

5/7/03