Thrasher's Call

I feel safe alone, in secret places, since in secret was where I was always safest, when as a child I learned to take close care not to feel, or flinch; to carefully wear my outlawed sorrow behind guarded faces.

When in secret, I’d reach for honest phrases to poultice my wounds, and untie the laces of the layered shields that I’d been made to bear so I’d feel safe.

But now, my poetic-solace, my secret places hold healing more than mere turns of phrases: in the sacred safety of friends who share the truth of love and joy and care, it turns out that, disarmed, in these souls’ embraces I feel safe.