granite enclosure
seals YOUR heart
Yet YOU'll share with me YOUR soul
closing walls
stifle YOUR desire
Don't want ME to make YOU whole
Yourself YOU bind
in chains of restraint
Lock it up, it won't escape
severed heart
from soul's union
With this Yourself YOU mutilate
scared of being one 
as two
And not one on YOUR own
empty being
content searching in pain
As long as you remain alone
yet OUR souls
intertwine and share
Communicating OUR connection
achingly hollow
YOU leave US
Seeing love with solely dejection

I stand before YOU
No shadows in which to hide
Soul naked to YOUR eyes
No facade of pride
The child within peeks out
Of the woman YOU have known
YOU hold the key to secrets
My heart has never shown
I surrounded myself in darkness
Feared exposure to the light
Never wanted my true soul
To come into YOUR sight
Buried my emotions
Beneath layers and walls
Trying to ignore the pain
Ignore the sounds of YOUR calls
It seared too much to care
Face YOU battered and bruised
A child with tears in her eyes
Frightened of being used
My body, my soul, my mind
Have scars I feared YOU'd see
Little girl huddled in the corner
Only wanting to flee
But I've stepped out from the shadows
I stand before YOUR eyes
I've torn down the walls
Stopped facades and lies
I'm ready to be seen
To face the world anew
My frightened soul
I've opened up to YOU


By Shelly Claman