let me open up

right before your eyes

like an unbound book cradled in your hands;

laden with secrets and treasures trapped between the lines

let me tell a tale

of lingering hopes quenched and cold;

of hurting dreams that hesitate and hide

and come undone before they can rise up to be named

let me start a verse

in another world, another time unfurled,

where you stay close – no dawn, no doubt, no guilt –

where careless truths lift songs in my heart

let the spoken words

escape from my lips

with their baggage strapped to frayed wings,

so you may watch them disperse from me like broken down ghosts

let me open up 'fore you,

bare it all before your eyes,

so you may study the shadows and cobwebs

and release the eager fireflies nesting along my spine