Soulful Verse (A Key) Poem by Yiling Ding

Being seen
is embarrassing.
Being ignored
is painful.
Stuck in this paradox
of wanting to be known
... but fearing
the exposure of all
the intimate secrets.

Who knows what you will see
if I bared my soul in
a mystery that could be
... so misunderstood.
Who knows what you will think
if you tore the veil and
looked
saw deep within the mysteries
perhaps a soul that
even I do not know exists.

But all I know is that
I fear being forgotten
and so I lock away
pieces of my soul
in verse.