Open-chested (Façade: Part 3)

(Finished October 3, 2022)

Open is my chest

Cut through but still not brought to rest

And how do you wonder that it’s so easy to wound?

Close up again, though you still bleed

Have you gone down deep enough?

Found something hollow; Did I call your bluff?

Looking away from the hurt as it pulsates

That one wound still trying to coagulate

Open up, give room for air

Bleed out, for not too long they’ll stare

Funny how we all avoid something so human

In flesh and bone, thought and emotion are woven

In the face of pain, I’ve come with so much denial

What is this flame, to my fingertips intangible?

Down I want to go, but I’ve lost all means and reason

In the face of the flame, though my fingertips are numb

Have I said too much?

Brave I stand but run away in a rush

The strength it took for me to even dare speak

The strength drained away, leaving me curled up, oh so weak

What a burden it was holding it all in

But why let it all out for pain only akin

Well, what did you expect going out to the battlefield?

No will to yield and to your chest no shield

Open-chested I sacrifice myself to be

Honesty tested, but still no way to be free

And now, as I try to find solidity in my forgotten solitude

I no longer carry the burden of needing to be understood