11/13/2017

Middle Boyhood

No matter where you live, you cannot hide from darkness

The wonder of a foreign place brings its own kind of light

You explore and alone find a small kind of hope from within

Still the angry loud and very public abuse brings you shame

Your peers see and hear the black night that surrounds you

You are questioned as to why this doesn’t embarrass you

There is nothing you can say or do and yet you try unsuccessfully to fight back

There is no place for you to hide and the embarrassment is overwhelming

You find a voice and you hide in pretend until reality is gone

Even when you get away you run to an equally bad place

There is nowhere else you can go or hide

Abuse is darkness and life felt hopeless

The only light was a God given voice that allowed you to sing

A mind that taught you to lie so very well no one would know

What a way to become a teenager

Joy was as fleeting as trick or treat or babysitting for a quarter

Even being a scout brought more darkness

You thought you were being rejected because of who you were

You weren’t actually but how could you know it was who your family was