DEAR DANIEL

Dear Daniel, your judgment's swift and keen, Too quick a glance, a surface scene. Sit down, I pray, and linger near, Meet the authentic me, cast off all fear. I'm nothing close, I swear it's true, To the image that resides in you. A stranger sketched in shades of doubt, A surface seen, the depths left out. Don't be afraid, there's nothing to dread, Just a heart that longs to be read. So stay awhile, and let me be, The truest version, wild and free. Shed the assumptions, preconceived, And the real me, you'll perceive. No monster hides, no shadows creep, Just a soul that's buried deep.