Reveal

Coming into oneself

Is it a re-invention

or a revealing?

Perhaps I’ve allowed

others expectations of me,

society’s thrust upon

demands of me,

define me.

I have picked up the

clothes of expectation,

the coats and shelters

of those demands,

until I was buried

under a massive

heap of

self loathing

until I couldn’t find

myself under the

mass of warm layers

of expectations & demands

That warmth

suffocated me

sucked out all the

air

the oxygen

For me

to breathe,

to live,

over time

I’ve cast aside

the coats,

stepped outside

the shelters

& slowly,

one by one

removed the

garments

of expectation,

the cloak

of shame

the cardigan of guilt,

regret’s scarf

Now as I approach

my 5th decade

on this soil

I reveal myself

to myself

naked

reflecting life’s beauty

the expression of truth.